


How to Raise Your Faunus

by Morbid1Curiosity



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Romance, Eventual Romance, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Interspecies Romance, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-08
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-01-31 02:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 94,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12666600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morbid1Curiosity/pseuds/Morbid1Curiosity
Summary: [AU story, read A/N for details] Weiss's life was stable. It was filled with routine, everyday rituals and overall stability. But fate would not let her keep that blessing (or curse?) for too long. As on one rainy day, she stumbles upon a box with a young faunus girl. Now barely keeping with responsibilities with her own life, she has a bigger one to worry about.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this might be a long one, but its necessary. I want to explain the "rules" of this story, so that people can decide if it'll be something they will enjoy. 
> 
> Now this is (clearly) an AU world. And I want to mostly clarify some rules of this AU. First of all, there are still humans and faunuses. Yet, the faunus race is treated like...well, Pets. They differ in intelligence (just like humans I guess...now That I think about it. - Note wrote after I re-read this A/N). They have a bit more animal traits, usually ending with 2-3, not just one. And I think that's it. Rest of the rules and stuff I think I can introduce in the story itself. And its enough for people to decide "Oh this story is dumb Ima not read it". 
> 
> Oh and in case you didn't get that from the the title, the description, and the tags, it contains Ruby Faunus. And it might contain some very very vague and minimal references to Bumblebee in later chapters. But really, it won't be much. I think. I don't know. Fite me. Hot-dog

Weiss woke up as always, her alarm clock painfully reminding her that her studying session of last night lasted for too long...again. She groaned as she hit the button to stop the annoying beeping, her head once more landing on the soft pillow as she let out a sigh.

 

She started considering her options for today. She could go back to sleep, skip her lectures and classes, not go to work, fail her studies, get fired, be broke, and end up as a bum and live under a bridge or something.

 

She could die, become an angel and peek on people doing embarrassing things. That was also an option. Although that would make her family and friends sad, so said option was immediately rejected.

 

Out of all the possible things she could do this morning, she once more convinced herself that it was best to just get up, and deal with the world.

 

She sat up and was immediately greeted with a horrifying sight. A mirror. She hated this mirror so much. Each and every morning it reminded her how awful she looks after waking up. Each and every morning it reminded her that she spent such a long time in the bathroom making sure to fix what night does to her hair and face. This mirror reminded her why she had to get up way earlier in the morning to face life.

 

She let out a groan, for two reasons. One was that she knew what was about to come. It was part of her daily life at that point. Regrets. How she could use her father money, live comfortably, focus on studies, get a job in the company, and live happy without ever having to worry.

 

But she didn't. She decided to take her own life and make it that. Her own. She would not be a spoiled brat. So here she was, waking up, after a long session of studying. In a small, rented apartment she barely had any money to pay for, because of her part time job and scholarship cash.

 

She moved her feet to slip them into the panda slippers she got from one of her friends. It was supposed to cheer her up each and every morning. Sadly it failed, and had quite the opposite effect. As each and every morning she had an urge to murder a certain black and white bear.

 

Coffee, that would cheer her up. Or at least wake her up, and that was a start.

 

oooOOOooo

 

Just the smell of her favorite beverage made her smile. As she sat on a chair, with laptop on her lap, coffee at her left, and a piece of toast to her right. Routine, both blessing and curse. But in days like this? A blessing.

 

She idly browsed through the university site, her university email, her personal email and the news site to see if she perhaps could be blessed by not having to go out in the morning and stay a bit, or even head back to bed.

 

Sadly nobody was sick, the classes and lectures were on, and no meteor will fall anywhere close to where she currently lived. Just her luck.

 

She took a bite of her toast. It was such a poor quality bread. But she got used to it. Really, out of everything that she had to get used to, food was the worst. And that was what almost made her quit her resolution at the first year of living like this. Food.

 

She couldn't cook, it just never clicked for her. She wouldn't burn down the kitchen making drinks or cornflakes or scrambled eggs, but she just never could grasp anything beyond the bare minimum. As such her breakfasts were simple, she often ate out and at best she could microwave some pre-made lunch sets. At this point she should have a discount on them, with how much she purchased over the one and a half year she lived here.

 

While the first year was chaos, the second one was just this. Routine. And she gladly embraced that. Chaos was the worst state one's life can be in.

 

Another sip, and another part of her brain booted up. She would be fully operational by the time her cup was empty each and every morning. And that was good, because she needed that. Coffee was the only thing she wasn't cheap about. She couldn't. If she couldn't have her coffee how she liked it, life wasn't worth living. End of story.

 

oooOOOooo

 

Getting up early had its perks. How water in the shower, was one. She paid a flat amount for this place, so she could use as much water as she wanted. Of course if she over did so, and the owner would notice, he'd either kick her out or raise her rent. But she never was someone who enjoyed to soak for hours. Just enough to make her body feel nice, worked especially well on those cold, soggy, rainy mornings.

 

This was also the place where she could get insightful about her socially induced complexes. Like how small her chest was in comparison to some of her friends, how boyish her hips were in comparison to some of her friends. And how those friends told her that she was alright looking. It was a never ending cycle.

 

It took her an hour to prepare at worst, and half an hour at best. Ten minutes if she overslept. But that just happened once. She still to this day felt bad for that one kid who saw her untidy, decaffeinated and late self. His mom did send her an email telling her he was getting over his trauma, so that was good. At least nothing to feel bad anymore...too Much.

 

She took a deep breath. For some reason having school uniforms felt...alright. Perhaps if she was her old, spoiled self, she would feel the need to rebel now and then, but nowadays? Nowadays she had too much on her mind to worry about what to wear and what not. So she embraced the idea that she will never look worse then anyone else.

 

Fully clothed, with her books and laptop in her bag, a coat for the morning chill and later for the evening cool air, Weiss was ready to start the day.

 

oooOOOooo

 

This wasn't the cleanest spot in the city. Well, it wasn't some kind of slums. Just her apartment was in the back of an alleyway. An alleyway where people loved to stack lots of weird trash. It was really amusing, there was a big line that grew bigger and bigger, and once it appeared too close to the main street? The city would be reminded to clean it, and it disappeared, only for the entire line of trash to start collecting again.

 

It amused her greatly to notice this pattern in her first year. And she enjoyed walking along it. To see what new things were added, or taken out. It became her everyday ritual to be sure to check on that.

 

Furniture, small coffee table with...are Those teeth marks? Goodness, someone was hungry. Parts of chair. Some small, low cart that looked like it was still operating, no idea why anyone threw it out. A lamp with a bat symbol. What looked to be half of a bicycle...How And why did anyone cut a bicycle in half? And where was the other half?! Did someone needed half of a bicycle and just threw the other one away? Ugh, this will bug her the entire bus ride now.

 

oooOOOooo

 

The university coffee machine wasn't the best around, but it did its job. It allowed for her to fulfill her coffee addiction. An addiction she swore she could quit at any time...she Just didn't want to.

 

"So which one is it so far?" There it was. Sound of her friend's voice. Weiss turned around to glare at the taller girl.

 

"Its my second, Yang. Why would you care?" The Schnee glared at the blond. Coffee was a sensitive subject to her. Especially if someone dared to even hint at her having to decrease the amount of it being poured down her system.

 

"Weiss, its 9 am, and you're already at your second one? That ain't healthy, girl." The blonde shook her head.

 

"Good, who wants to live forever. I'll gladly embrace my caffeinated death whenever it comes. Now let's go, we'll be late to grab the best spots." Weiss started to move, her Styrofoam cup in one hand. She missed Yang shaking her head once more, before catching up with the girl, as they both headed towards their classes.

 

oooOOOooo

 

Her work place was...weird. Not because of where she worked, or what she sold, or what she did at her work place. No, her workplace was a dream. Why? Because there weren't many customers, she had a lot of time to catch up with her studies, and they had coffee machine.

 

She never understood this, and she didn't want to know. What eyes can't see, heart won't regret. But she worked at a store with various knick knacks, books, comic books, some gadgets...everything And nothing, as she liked to think.

 

She got this job at her first year, and since then? She memorize the entire store. Perhaps that was what let her keep the job. By now, she knew more about where is what, then the store owner. Speaking of which...

 

...He Paid her enough to be able to cover her bills. And her scholarship could cover the rest, which was a good thing. Yet she always wondered, how did he earn his money. The store didn't have many customers. She always said, that at first sight of something suspicious, she would quit. But nothing suspicious would happen. No police, no nothing. So she decided not to question her luck...at Least out loud. And just enjoy her job for what it was. Peaceful, quiet, and profitable enough to keep her afloat.

 

oooOOOooo

 

Weiss yawned over her books. She checked the clock, and there it was. 10 pm. She had to push herself a bit more. One more hour, it should be enough to be prepared. At times like this, she regretted she didn't buy any of those energy drinks. But she opted to do that only when she's studying for an important exam.

 

Even she was self aware enough to know that mixing coffee with that kind of stuff ain't too healthy. And doing it on a daily basis would make her life miserable in the long run.

 

So here she was, praying to caffeine gods to give her a bit more strength, enough to endure another hour of books, diagrams, spreadsheets and other economy stuff. Yet deep down she knew how this will end. She will fall asleep on top of her books, wake up in a few hours, only to drag herself to bed.

 

It was almost sad how she knew all of that, yet did nothing to stop it. Ritual of routine, nothing less, nothing more.

 

oooOOOooo

 

Next day started a bit differently, as the clouds grumbled, threatening to bring rain, or at worst a storm. But Weiss was prepared for that, with her trusty umbrella and coat. And geared up, she left her small home to once more travel towards her destiny, the university.

 

She took a deep breath, yep, definitely will be raining later. It was something in the air that could always tell you about it.

 

And here it was, the line of trash and discarded items. Furniture, small coffee table with those teeth marks, Parts of chair. Some small, low cart that looked like it was still operating, still no idea why anyone would throw it out. A faunus girl in a box. A lamp with a bat symbol. Half of a bicycle...

 

Wait...

 

Weiss moved towards the box and its content. She had to make sure. And once she lined up with it, sure enough, it was there. Well, not it, but what Weiss assumed a She. Dark hair with red tips, black ears that turned more red towards the tips. And eyes, those...white? No, not white.

 

Silver eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The waking up part of Weiss routine is based off my own life...Well With exception of me having panda slippers. I wish I had panda slippers. Or maybe not. I'd rather not have murder instinct grew inside of me towards pandas.
> 
> I know its just a prologue, but I'd love to hear your opinions on the story idea. I know its just a concept at this point, but any kind of worries or ideas or suggestions or just comments/reviews in general are appreciated.


	2. Box Faunus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to make a clarification. Ruby and Weiss age difference is the same as the show. I don't really like to give specific ages of how old the characters are because it just causes trouble. Unless its important, but if its not? Then who cares. They're old enough to do stuff they do. That's the rule I go with.

Silver eyes.

 

Weiss approached the big box. How she missed it, she wasn't sure. Most likely she saw so many boxes being scattered along this wall, that she didn't really care. I mean half a bike, who throws out half a bike!

 

Yet, today, she found something even more...unique? A faunus girl. She approached the box, trying to not make any sudden movements and smiling. “Hello, are you lost? Did someone abandoned you?” The only response she got was the girl hiding inside the box, which made Weiss sigh.

 

At this rate she will be late. Maybe she should just leave her here, make things settle for itself. Someone would report her sooner or later, some pound workers will come, take her and figure out what to do with her.

 

That sounded like a solution for Weiss. Just a little bit of uniqueness in her dull life to ...well not make it too dull, but without turning it upside down. Saw a stray faunus girl, and that's it.

 

But what if some bad people would find her. At that, The Schnee couldn't help but bit her lower lip. She heard some stories about some mean folks. Mostly on the internet of course, and those were the most extreme cases. And there were plenty of those, for her young mind, to asses that things of lesser extent would happen more often.

 

And then gods decided to make that choice for her, or at least nudge her towards it. First rain drops fell. Weiss cursed under her breath at that. Of course it had to rain. She once more let out a sigh and glanced at the girl inside the big box.

 

The first instinct was to offer her the umbrella. But then what? She would sit inside a soggy box, with an umbrella. That didn't fix the first issue, the potential bad people finding her. This was so frustrating and annoying.

 

“Hey, its going to rain, do you have a place to stay? If not, You should come with me, alright? I won't hurt you, I promise. I just don't want you to get hurt or wet.” The Schnee kept her gentle smile, as she extended her hand towards the girl. The only reaction was the girl trying to dig herself deeper into the big box.

 

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. Fine, if this girl wanted to be this way, so be it. The human girl began to walk away from the box.

 

But in the direction of a familiar, hopefully working, low cart. The rain drops started pouring more and more with every moment now, which didn't really help her mood. She will feel icky for a week after touching garbage, especially someone else's garbage, but a Schnee has to do, what a Schnee has to do.

 

She tested it with her feet at first, to see if its stable, if it won't fall apart, and it will be able to hold the weight of ...well something as heavy as she was. She hoped the girl wasn't heavier than that. She grabbed the cart and started to drag it towards the box with the girl inside of it. Deciding to give her another chance to surrender willingly.

 

“Come on, don't be scared. It's raining and you'll get a cold. If you want to go after it stops raining, I won't keep you, So please.” Weiss tried to plead with the girl, she didn't want to force her, but at the same time? She wouldn't let her consciousness eat her alive for the next...forever. Tough love it's called, or something.

 

The girl, of course, wouldn't comply to her demands. Are all faunuses such dolts, or did she just get to meet one. Fine, if that's how it would be, Weiss would do it herself. She bit her lip, looking between the low cart, and the box. She wasn't the strongest, although she did carry boxes around in her work, so she should be able to just get it up the short thing.

 

The worst was, what if this girl suddenly starts being hostile? What if she attacks her. What if she has one of those weird Faunus diseases, like that white fang one. It does turn them hostile, and isn't always curable.

 

Yet the rain started to pour more and more, and even if that wasn't the issue on itself, it made the box soggy and hard to move. So Weiss decided to take her gamble. Already thinking of a nice thing to left on her tombstone. Here lies Weiss, who got mauled by a cute faunus girl after wanting to help. She shook her head, she never was the creative type. And she should stop being so pessimistic about it.

 

The Schnee approached the box, the girl inside of it curling up to get away as much as he could. Weiss took a deep breath and crouched, huggin the box, and raising it. It wasn't extremely heavy, but still, it was awkward to grab and already quite unstable due to it getting moist.

 

But with some luck, determination and resolution, the box soon found itself on top of the short cart. Weiss let out a tired sigh. But she should move, although both of them were already soaked wet. The Schnee started to push the cart, moving it towards her apartment. She thanked god she didn't live on any higher floor, as such she just had to push the thing up a single step, before she was free to enter her little home.

 

Once there she closed the door behind her, and pushed the cart deeper into it. She was soaked, and it annoyed her. Nothing spoils a morning, then being forced to do physical workout with a faunus box in a rain. Which might be a very specific, unique way to get annoyed, but facts were facts.

 

Still, she didn't want to scare the girl, so she peeked into the box with a smile. “See? Its dry here, and warm. So do you want to tell me what happened? Are you hurt? Lost?” The Schnee kinda expected what the outcome would be. Silence and more confused, scared staring from the girl.

 

The white haired girl sighed. It was pointless. And she was getting cold, yet there were things to be done before she could change. She turned around and moved away from the girl, deciding not to push her limit and make her panic or...whatever she could do. Instead she reached for her phone.

 

“Yang? Yeah, I won't be present today.”

 

“...”

 

“It's too much to explain...actually? Maybe you can help me. You do have your kitty cat. I found a stray faunus, what should I do?”

 

“...”

 

“mmhm, So police, local pound and call around some vets. And if nobody says anything?”

 

“...”

 

“So basicly get her down to the pound so She can wait there till someone takes her, got that.”

 

“...”

 

“Yang, I don't have resources or time to take care of her while I wait for anyone to pick her up.”

 

“...”

 

“I know they are worse than jails, name me a public institution that isn't crap, but I told you that adopting a faunus isn't for me. It requires money which I don't really have, and time I don't have because I need to spend it to have money now, and let myself get a degree so I can hope to get some later in my life.”

 

“...”

 

“No! I won't ask my father. My entire purpose of being here and busting my...butt, is because I want to be my own person, and not being known as the spoiled Schnee brat. Why won't you take her if you care so much, Yang.”

 

“...”

 

“Right, your landlord, I forgot. Look, I'll call those places, and let you know later what I got. I guess I'll decide what to do when I get there.”

 

“...”

 

“No, no Yang. I'm fine, if I'll need help I'll call you.”

 

“...”

 

“Yeah, Talk to you later. Bye bye.”

 

Click.

 

And then there was a thud behind her. Weiss jumped, startled, as she turned around, worried that the calm girl would turn hostile and was about to attack her … But instead she found that the box collapsed from the small cart so that it was upside down. And then, said “box” started to crawl towards one of the walls, where it decided to settle.

 

“Great, now I have a box faunus.” She sighed, although couldn't help but smile. It was just ridiculous enough to make her feel amused about that girl.

 

Weiss moved towards the door, locking it with her key, before she decided to change. For that she moved to the bathroom. She was worried to leave the room unattended with the faunus girl in it, but it was either stay on guard and get a cold, or avoid getting cold and risk...whatever it is the girl could do.

 

She opted from using a hair dryer, in case the girl could be spooked by the sound or anything. She wondered if the girl would even understand her, and that's why she didn’t respond. Was she a mute? Did someone throw her out because of that? That made Weiss clench her jaw in anger. Typical of people to not take responsibility.

 

Yet, no reason to assume. Maybe it's just a misunderstanding and she was lost. Well whatever it was, she had a date with her phone for the next...hour or so. Hopefully trying to phone all those places won’t take her too long.

 

oooOOOooo

 

“Yes, thank you. Please do call if something shows up.”

 

“...”

 

“No, it's not a problem. I’ll keep her for at least the next few days, and then I’ll think of a plan.”

 

“...”

 

“I’ll try, are you open at weekends?”

 

“...”

 

“Really? That’s great! Yes, 1 pm sounds good. If someone calls me to take her, I’ll inform you so you won’t have to come just for me, without me even having a reason to come over.”

 

“...”

 

“Once more, thank you and have a good day.”

 

Click.

 

Weiss sighed as she settled the phone. There was nobody who looked for any faunus girl recently, no faunus girl was lost, no nothing. She also called her boss to let him know She couldn’t get to work today. And after an hour of being on the phone, She was mentally exhausted.

 

She looked towards the box. The girl accepted the glass of water she left her, or rather put next to her box. That means she either saw it and decided to take it since she was thirsty, or she understood when she told her about it.

 

She looked at the bag of cookies laying on the counter. She hated sweets...well not hated, she simply decided that it was waste of money really. But this bag was a gift from Yang. In a way, she got two for the price of one, so in her generosity she gave one to Weiss.

 

And now, a week later, this sugar bomb served its purpose to attempt to cheer her up. “Granny’s chocolate chip cookies” yeah right. As if this thing even was close to any kind of old, home made cookie recipe.

 

She took one and crunched into it. It tasted sugary, the chocolate felt like rubber and didn’t melt inside her mouth as chocolate should. Still, sugar was sugar. She reached for her cup of coffee. Her cold coffee. What a waste. This entire day was already giving her a headache, and it wasn’t even noon.

 

Weiss looked at the box, and was surprised to see the girl peer from under it. But she wasn’t looking at Weiss, no. She was focused on the cookie bag in the Schnee’s hand. Ah yes, the bait attempt, why haven’t Weiss thought about it.

 

“You want some?” She offered the bag towards the girl. Faunus hid under her box, but after a few seconds the box began to move towards the human girl. Once close, she once more peek from under it and at Weiss, or rather at the bag in her hands.

 

“No, if you want them, you’ll get out from that box, and sit at the table like a normal person.” She smirked as she decided to bite into the cookie. “And you better decide, or else I might eat everything by myself.” That was a lie. Weiss would perhaps eat two, three, before the sugar would be too much. But this faunus didn’t have to know that.

 

There was a very unhappy whine from under the box, and Weiss decided to hammer the iron while it's hot, and crunch onto the cookie in a very audible way. And that had to work, since the box slowly was raised, and the girl moved from under it and stood up. Weiss saw her wince slightly, most likely due to her joints being in an awkward position for a long time by now.

 

She had a young, pretty face, she wasn’t much shorter from Weiss, perhaps a few inches. she wore a black dress with red details here and there. Whoever got her the dress clearly had her fur parts in mind. On her feet she had white...well what was white socks, and black doll shoes. And of course a burgundy collar with her tag. Well the of course part wasn’t so obvious, since if she truly was stray for some reason, she wouldn’t have it. That means that she must be lost, or something happened. Which in some way filled Weiss with relief. She would feel very angry if she discovered that someone abandoned this cute faunus.

 

“Good girl, now sit down at the chair and I’ll let you eat them.” Weiss wasn’t sure if she should let her eat it, allow her to eat the entire bag, or anything really. Why would she know anything in relation to that? She didn’t even have plans to own a faunus.

 

The faunus girl slowly moved towards the chair and plop down. While she did that, the Schnee noticed that behind her was a small tail, currently curled to be almost between her legs. Clearly the girl wasn’t comfortable. But Weiss understood that this was better than sitting in a soggy box out in the rain.

 

“Very good, and here you go, your reward.” At first the human girl wanted to slide the bag across the table, but a different idea came to her mind. She reached with her hand towards the faunus. She had to understand that Weiss meant her no harm, and frankly the Schnee had no other ideas how to even start that process.

 

The faunus reached hesitantly, but once her fingers were on the package, she stole it eagerly, only to reach towards the content of it. Weiss bit her lower lip, it was clear that this girl had to be hungry, or she loved cookies. Maybe both? \

 

“If you’re hungry I can make you some more food. Would you want that? Nod or shake your head at least.” The dark haired girl paused her eating and hugged the bag to herself. It was such a silly gesture that Weiss couldn’t help but smile.

 

“You can keep those, but I can make you something else and more as well. You just seem hungry. So I’ll ask once more, would you like something more?” There was a pause, and Weiss could see the cogwheels turn inside the girl's head, before she gave a meek nod.

 

“Right, my name is Weiss. What's your name?” It was getting very frustrating to communicate in such a way, but patience was required. And the human girl had enough patience to befriend one of the most obnoxious people, Yang. She could handle a scared faunus.

 

The girl looked to the side, before raising her head to uncover her neck and collar. Weiss wasn’t sure what she was doing, before it hit her. The tag, of course. She very slowly stood up and approached the dog girl. “Can I?” She asked as she reached halfway towards the collar and stopped. Once the faunus didn't change her position, she decided to gently reach towards the tag.

 

“Ruby Rose.” Weiss read out loud. Two names, that was unusual. Or at least it seemed. Who gave a pet two names. Wouldn’t that get confusing? She shook her head. That wasn’t important right now.

 

“Well, Ruby. Do you like eggs? I should have enough to make you some scrambled eggs.” Weiss smiled, perhaps one of the more genuine smiles so far. She made some progress with the girl. There was a nod once more from the Rose girl. That was enough of an answer for the Schnee.

 

She moved towards the kitchen and started to gather whatever she required for the most simple of meals, and one of the few she could prepare herself.

 

This menial task also allowed for her to think some more about this strange situation. She couldn’t help but sigh softly. She felt like she just got herself in a lot of trouble.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I know that making excuses is never a good idea, I wanted to apologize if this chapter seemed...weird. But I was writing it in very weird places. Like the hospital and my university. So it was a weird experience for me to do so.
> 
> Once more, I decided to cut a chapter short, since it concluded what it tried to show, and I can focus in the next chapter or something different. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please do leave a review/comment and tell me about anything you disliked or enjoyed about it. It helps me with future writing. As well as fuels my motivation. Also feel free to post your worries or suggestions. That also helps.


	3. Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not sure if RWBY canonically has ninjas, and how they would be described, so if my depiction of ninjas in this story is wrong? I apologize. It is an AU after all.

Weiss decided that she could clean the mess later, as she sat down at the table after offering the food to the faunus girl. She still had the cookie package, but she decided to put it down onto her lap, and eat some real food. And that was a sign that she understood the difference between sweets and a proper meal. Well, as proper as scrambled eggs could be.

Faunuses...Weiss never really wanted to have a Faunus pet. It always seemed like a friend you could buy. And that was...not fun. She didn't need an additional soul inside her place because she felt lonely. Now, faunuses that worked in specific places due to their unique traits, that she understood. Like police or firefighters or even therapy faunuses. Not to mention the more brawly kind that could help out with their raw physical strength.

But this was...different. Pets always seemed for Weiss like a bit of a useless thing. Well, not really a bit. It was that, it was useless. It had no purpose. Unless it's a faunus that could defend you, or make you feel safer.

There were some unique situations. Like Yang and her cat. She did save the poor thing from death. The white fang disease, where people gave up on her, thinking it would be better to just get a new one, and cheaper. Weiss remembered that story. It was what sold Yang as a person to the Schnee. Under that obnoxious, loud attitude, was a caring and warm person who would end up homeless if she had to, only to save someone she cared for.

And here was Weiss, having a speechless box faunus saved from rain. Not quite the same grandiose as risking your entire life security to save someone else's life. Unless this girl here would catch a cold and would possibly die from that.

"Thank you." ...That made the Schnee blink. Did she misheard that?

"Excuse me?" Was all the white haired girl could blurt out in response.

"I s-said...thank you...for the meal." She didn't misheard it. She could speak. Weiss let out a sigh of relief at that.

"You're welcome. Why didn't you say anything earlier?" The Schnee bit her tongue at that. She could have voiced that a little bit better.

"I didn't want to." Well this already was a great start. A word wrestling match.

"And what was the reason for you not wanting to?" But Weiss wouldn't give up, not easily. She had to know if she was to help her. She didn't really blame the girl. Whatever happened, it had to be rough for the dog girl.

"I didn't want you to take me..." The girl paused, she looked away, before continuing, although in a quieter tone of voice. "There."

Weiss assumed she meant the pound. She never really was interested in anything related to fanuses. But even she knew that while it was called a hotel for homeless faunuses, the slang for that place was basically a prison, where they put you for being guilty of being unloved or something. Basicly like homeless shelters. Lots of folks rather roam on their own.

"I won't. I want to help you, Ruby. So do you know where your house is?" The human girl decided not to approach her directly about what happened. She could swallow her curiosity, if it could help her get this girl back home, and just make this entire thing into one of those story you tell your friends at parties or something. If Weiss ever went to parties.

"I d-don't. We moved to the city. My owner wasn't feeling good, so we moved to the big city, so she could be close to a good doctor." That made two possibilities, one horrible, and another less horrible. Either she got lost by accident, because big cities take some time to get used. Or something worse happened. Something Weiss didn't even want to think about.

"I see, and why were you in that box?" Weiss really hoped that it would be the less bad possibility. She really didn't want for this innocent thing to end up in the pound. But if her owner was...not well. The Schnee shook her head.

"I ran." Weiss waited for the girl to continue, but there was only silence. With a sigh she inquired further.

"And why did you ran, Ruby?" Weiss offered her a reassuring smile. She felt sad for the girl now, more so than earlier.

"She...I mean my owner. She...She...That is..." The girl stuttered as she tried to look for a proper word, Weiss was afraid that the faunus girl would break in tears. But luckly, she didn't. Weiss wouldn't be sure what to do if that happened. "She broke." The dog girl finally found some kind of way to put the situation in word.

That made the Schnee tilt her head. Broke, like an object. Was this girl not that clever, or was she simply refusing to accept what happened, by calling it something else, but in a way that it could still relate.

"And they came to take her away. And then they wanted to take me away as well...But somewhere...somewhere else. So I ran." Weiss nodded as she listened to the other girl. She wasn't sure if Ruby sounded sad, or defeated...or both.

"To the pound?" The human girl asked, to which she received a nod.

"Ruby, I promise, we'll find your owner, and everything will be alright, okay? But I will need you to be a good girl for me, and listen to me, please." If they were to accomplish anything, she had to take control of this awkward situation.

"Y-You promise?" That made the Schnee smile. There was a spark of something else then sadness in the dog girl's voice.

Keeping that smile, she nodded as she focused her gaze on the other girl's silver eyes. "I promise Ruby."

"I'll listen then." The Schnee took a deep breath. Right, now what? She didn't really think this over too much. But she had to remain confident.

"What was your owner name?" And perhaps she knew where to start her little investigation. Although she already felt sick about the solution. Yet it was her only plan, at least for now.

"S-Summer...Summer Rose." And that explained the double name on her tag. How...sweet. Weiss wasn't sure why she was so surprised by this. Faunuses were part of families.

"Alright, now you need to change from those clothes. You should do so immediately after we went inside, but...you didn't. Still, you should do it now, alright?" Weiss waited for the dog girl to showcase she understood and wouldn't have anything against it. And sure enough, she gave a small nod.

"Good girl, I'll find you something you can wear. Meanwhile enjoy your sweets." The Schnee stood up, and had to keep herself from ruffling the girl's hair. She wasn't sure if she could do that right now, without breaking the thin line of trust she managed to build with the dog girl.

Letting a soft sigh she moved towards her wardrobes, or what she liked to call wardrobes. Actually better name would be "places she kept her clothes in" but wardrobe was shorter and to the point. She owned a drawer and a big wooden chest. Any kind of coats or thing that couldn't or shouldn't be folded, she just hanged on a coathanger. When you live like this, you can't be picky.

She wasn't sure what to give her though. They had the same size and everything, but what could be comfortable. Admittedly even Weiss had like one set of clothes she wore at home, something she would be embarrassed to open the doors even to a pizza delivery person, but was simply comfortable to wear when around the little place she called home.

The Schnee opened the chest, and started to slowly browse through different pieces of clothing. In the back she heard the crinkling of the cookie package, meaning that the girl finally occupied herself with the snack.

While going through the few outfits she had, Weiss stumbled upon something she herself would never ever buy. A black hoodie. She squinted her eyes as she took it out from the chest. It was too big, even for her.

And then realization hit her like a truck. It was Yang's hoodie. She borrowed it from her, or rather was forced to wear it that one time. Weiss bit her lower lip, she completely forgot about it. She was supposed to clean it and give it back to her. Buut...She looked at it, and then at the girl sitting at the small kitchen table. Yang still could help with this faunus situation, even if she wasn't aware of it.

Weiss closed the chest and walked towards the dog girl. "Ruby, You can take a shower by yourself, right? And change without needing help?"

That made the faunus girl frown. "Of course I can, I'm not a pup."

The Schnee chewed on the inside of her inner cheek. How was she supposed to know what's normal and whats not. "Right, I never had a pet like you, so I apologize. You'll have to be patient with me. Now take a warm shower, and after that, wear this. You can use whatever towel you find." Weiss handed the girl the black hoodie.

Ruby took it and looked down, her ears going flat against her skull. "I'm sorry." She then moved her head up to offer a small smile. First smile that Weiss saw on the girl's face. "I'll be patient with you."

Weiss answered with her own smile, before stepping to the side. "Good, now go, maybe we can save you from catching a cold. Maybe." She watched Ruby nod, as she moved to where the human girl pointed, assuming it was the bathroom.

Meanwhile she had to make a few phonecalls. She let out a deep sigh. She might as well start with the worst one.

She took her phone and looked for that one cursed number.

"Mmm...Hello? Neptune?"

"..."

"Yes, its nice to hear from you too. I would call more often, but I'm just so busy. Especially now with this one thing."

"..."

"Oh it's ...nothing, really. I don't want to bother you."

"..."

"Really? And it wouldn't be an issue? You know you don't owe me anything, so I don't want to force you to do anything for me."

"..."

"Well if you insist. Could you check the local hospital places for one name. Summer Rose."

"..."

"Oh I can't say now, once I'm done with this, I'll tell you the entire story. So could you? It would free up my time by a lot."

"..."

"Maybe I might find time for that, but you know how it is with my time and dates. If you could mail the results to me, it would make my...thing easier."

"..."

"You're a sweetheart. I have to go now, thank you once again, it means a lot to me."

"..."

"Yes, talk to you soon."

Click.

Weiss made an involuntary gag motion as she was done with the phone call. She should burn this phone...or would if she had extra cash to replace it. Her dad would be proud, how she manipulated man into her black widow's web.

But enough of being dramatic, she still had things to do. She once more searched through her contact list.

"...Hello? Boss?"

"..."

"Yes, it's Me again. This situation I'm in got kind of complicated, so I wanted to ask for a few more days off."

"..."

"No, no! Nothing that bad. I'll send you an email later with the short version. And once I'm back I'll explain and fill in the details."

"..."

"Well, not counting today, two more days. So I would be back at monday, hopefully. I'll work overtime to catch up with the hours I lost, so don't worry Boss."

"..."

"Uh yeah, economics, business. Why?"

"..."

"Erh, I probably could do that, yes. Is that the condition under which you won't fire me and allow me to get those days off?"

"..."

'R-Really? Is it that much work, that you'd pay me fully for those days?"

"..."

"Oh, well I appreciate the trust, but I don't want to overuse your kindness."

"..."

"Well I guess doing that sort of thing is obnoxious and annoying. Very well, send them to my email Boss, and I'll sort them out. Thank you, it really means a lot to me."

"..."

"You're too kind sir. I have to go, thank you once more. It really means a lot. I'll be sure not to disappoint you."

"..."

"And to you as well."

Click.

Weiss smiled, all these years of hard honest work did pay off. Trust and people that cared for her. She let out a soft sigh. Sound of doors opening brought her attention back to reality.

Ruby stepped out barefoot from the bathroom wearing the hoodie. She made it seem as if the thing was huge, as it covered the better part of her thighs, and as she raised her arm, the sleeve freely flopped downwards. "Its um...too big?" The dog girl commented as she looked at the floppy sleeve, and then back at Weiss.

The human girl grinned. "Its perfect."

"It is?" Ruby tilted her head, and that made Weiss shake her head. She was enjoying this too much. Although she did look adorable in it. And that almost made her almost curious if she wore JUST the hoodie, and nothing else... But luckily she stopped that train of thoughts. It was inappropriate, and she should feel bad for even thinking about...thinking about it.

"Y-Yes, Ruby. It's alright, it's big, sure, but it's warm. And more comfortable than a box if you decide to hide again." The Schnee smirked, to which the dog girl blushed at the comment.

"Now uh... How about we watch something for a bit? To relax. And later I'll think about some lunch or dinner." Weiss offered. She wasn't sure what else she could do to help the dog girl not focus on her issue.

"Watch? What will we watch?" Ruby tilted her head curiously. And Weiss decided it was a good sign, she was interested.

"Whatever you'll want. Now let's get comfortable." Weiss smiled as she started to unpack her laptop.

oooOOOooo

It was later that day. They shared a simple meal, microwaved one, which Ruby politely tried to claim to not be the best thing she ate. But Weiss could never disagree. This kind of food was awful, but it served its purpose. It kept her "not hungry", and she didn't have any health issues, at least now.

Ruby got very curious about the books Weiss owned, her economy books. She figured out the girl couldn't really read, but she enjoyed looking at all the charts and colorful things within it. So that would occupy her for a bit.

And that was a good moment to check her email. She was about to compose that one thing for her boss, explaining the situation, where a notification popped up. It was from Neptune. He better have found what she wanted.

She opened it, ignoring the pointless rambling of his flirty attempts, she focused on the attached files, each from different hospital in the area. She looked through them. Names Summer and surnames Rose were highlighted, and she started browsing through them. Hoping to find a match with the date she had, that being yesterday or today, depending how late all that happened.

And there it was. Summer Rose, yesterday date, late hour. Weiss began to read the note, and as she continued to do so, her eyes slowly grew wider. She bit on her knuckle as she looked between the laptop screen and the dog faunus.

This was not the happy end she hoped for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're most likely wondering now "Wow where are those ninjas?!" Well I don't write crappy ninjas. And if you could notice a ninja, that would mean they are a crappy ninja. So there you have it.
> 
> But real talk.
> 
> Writing this chapter made me realize something. Its a very weird, illogical AU in which at any point someone can decide that this story is whack because of reason x, or how I approached the issue y or that they dislike my take on something. And they have to trust me, if they wish to continue to read this story, to not "mess up" anything. And that kind of put a bit of pressure on me in regards to this story.
> 
> And its alright to read chapter one, decide the premise or style of someone is eh, and drop the story. But this, someone might invest themselves, be knee deep into chapter 1x and suddenly the story takes a turn in which they might not like it, because the rules weren't set up front, and they might dislike it. And that would be disappointing.
> 
> In any case that this would occur? I apologize. Hopefully people who decided to give this a shot in the long run, won't get disappointed.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This is still the part of the story where I setup things for later and for the proper story to begin. I would appreciate if you could leave a review/comment and share with me what you disliked or liked about it. Any ideas, worries and suggestions are also appreciated! And in general, reading reviews motivates me for future work.
> 
> PS. The ninja thing was a joke, just in case it went over someone's head. Not yours of course. You're a smart and beautiful and/or handsome person. I meant the other peoples.


	4. Truth

It was a cold late evening. Weiss decided to go out to do some additional groceries from the nearby 24/7 store. She had to make sure tomorrow will have any kind of breakfast outside of coffee. At least for her new guest. Weiss knew she will need all the energy tomorrow. It was also to escape Ruby's ears as she wanted to talk to someone. She didn't want to meet up or invite Yang over, as such the best solution was to use technology.

  
  


"I know it's horrible Yang. It's why I called you. I'm not sure what to do."

  
  


"..."

  
  


"I told you already, I don't have income big enough to keep two people at my place."

  
  


"..."

  
  


"I'd rather not believe in fate that does something like that to someone else, only for me to get a free pet. Did you think about the bigger picture of what you just implied."

  
  


"..."

  
  


"I know Yang, I'm...sorry. I'm just stressed."

  
  


"..."

  
  


"No, tomorrow doesn't sound like a great idea. I know someone won't feel like socializing."

  
  


"..."

  
  


"Of course I care, Yang. Why wouldn't I? I mean sure I can't keep her, but its not like I dislike her. She's a sweet girl."

  
  


"..."

  
  


"Don't bring my father into this, I'm not like him. I simply would like to have enough money to pay my bills and not go hungry."

  
  


"..."

  
  


"Yes, because living off of you is something completely different, than living off my father. Name's change, but the idea is the same."

  
  


"..."

  
  


"I don't know Yang, I don't want her to end up in a pound. Maybe look for adoption or something. She's young and sweet, I'm sure people would like to keep her."

  
  


"..."

  
  


"Yang for goodness sake, I can't. Look, I'll call you tomorrow, alright? I'm near my home anyway. And tomorrow I might know how things sort out, or at least know some more."

  
  


"..."

  
  


"I know you want to help. I appreciate it. And I understand You don't want for the girl to end up in a bad place in life, neither do I."

  
  


"..."

  
  


"Yeah, alright. Good night. Say hi to Blake from me."

  
  


"..."

  
  


"Right, talk to you tomorrow."

  
  


Click.

  
  


Weiss sighed as she stopped. She leaned against the wall as she looked at the grocery bag in her hand. Life was so unfair sometimes. She felt like a character from an ancient greek tragedy. She could choose between the higher value above the mortal life as we know it, or she could pick the solution that focused on the more primal, selfish nature of things.

  
  


And whatever she picks, the outcome will have dire consequences.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Weiss was done putting things to it's rightful places. She rarely made herself sandwiches, so she never really had much ingredients for them around the house. Usually some leftover stuff from the last time she decided to do them, for whatever reason. And those sounded like good enough breakfast material.

  
  


She looked over to the bed. Ruby was watching some cartoons on her laptop. A playlist she turned on for her before leaving. This entire situation really made her regret she wasn't smoking. Situations like those were made for cigarettes.

  
  


And it's pitiful that the first instinct she had to refuse that kind of addiction was money, and not health issues. But, here she was. Being a greedy little Schnee. She shook her head. She had something to do. Something that required all her acting skills and willpower to pull off.

  
  


She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and counted to ten. Once done, she opened them and moved towards the faunus girl. "Hey, Ruby?" She saw the dog girl's ear perk up, as she turned her attention towards the Schnee.

  
  


"Yes?" She tilted her head.

  
  


"Tomorrow we'll visit a doctor, to make sure you're alright. A-And after that we'll take you to your owner. Sounds good?" Weiss smiled, or forced herself to smile, trying to make it as natural as possible.

  
  


She saw the girl gasp, as her tail waggled itself from under the oversized hoodie. Her silver growing wide and the Schnee could swear her silver eyes almost sparkled with happiness. Once Weiss sat down on the bed, the dog girl tackled her into a hug.

  
  


"Thank you! I'll never forget you, I promise. Even after I'm back with her. Thank you for everything." The girl nuzzled her face into Weiss's chest, and the Schnee hugged the girl back, keeping her head in such position if only for her to not see the crooked grimace that her smiled turned into.

  
  


Tomorrow will be...eventful. Thats for sure.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Weiss was exhausted. Even though she didn't look forward to wake up tomorrow, she was glad to go to bed earlier. She opted to wear her pajamas that she got herself for the colder times of the year, even though it wasn't that cold outside, not yet at least. But she would feel awkward sleeping with someone in one bed wearing her nightgown.

  
  


The dog girl was still wearing the hoodie that Weiss gave her. She made sure that the black and red dress from earlier was clean and dry by tomorrow. Even if it was a bit damaged, it was the only thing Weiss could put on the girl when going outside.

  
  


As she yawned and turned the night lamp by the side of the bed she picked "Good night, Ruby." She didn't hear any answer, and simply assumed the girl was already asleep. That would be expected, after all Weiss was surprised the faunus girl didn't just sleep through the entire day, considering she spent a night in a box outside.

  
  


The Schnee wiggled a bit, trying to find some comfortable position for herself with half the space she usually had, and once she found it, she felt her arm being gently tugged at. She had to stop herself from sighing. "Yes, Ruby?" The human girl mumbled, hopefully loud enough for her dog ears to catch that.

  
  


"C-Can...Can I sleep with you?" Weiss had to blink, as her brain refused to cooperate with her for a moment.

  
  


"What...are you talking about, Ruby? We're already sleeping in the same bed." Weiss had no clue what the redhead girl had in mind. Aside from some lewd ideas, that Weiss immediately discarded. How do you sleep with someone when you already sleep with them in the same bed.

  
  


"I um... I always sleep hugged to ... her. And I would feel better if I could hug you. Please?" Weiss raised her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. She already felt weird to share a bed with someone she barely knew. And now she had to attempt to fall asleep with that someone touching her through the better part of the night.

  
  


Yet, Weiss knew that there were worse fates. And she could fulfill the girls request, at least for tonight, especially with tomorrow's events in mind. "Y-Yeah, Sure. Let's hug." The human girl rolled onto her back.

  
  


"Thank you!" Ruby shuffled closer. The Schnee expected her to simply wrap her arm around. But apparently hug means cling to someone, as Ruby opted to not only wrap both her arms around Weiss, but also intertwined her legs with that of the human girl.

  
  


"Good night!" Was the last thing the Faunus said, before closing her eyes, leaving flustered Weiss to her thoughts. The first thing she noticed was that the dog girl was very warm. She wondered if she didn't notice earlier, or was it due to the weird circumstances they were close to each other right now.

  
  


At some point she relaxed, and moved the girl closer with one of her arms, while the other reached to pet her hair and ears. It seemed as if all sleep escaped her mind, as she stared blankly at the ceiling. Her pets were awkward, as she didn't want to disturb the girl, and also wasn't exactly used to doing this sort of thing.

  
  


Ruby was happy for the rest of the evening and night before Weiss decided it was time for bed. Happy, because Weiss told her she would take her to her owner. This made her feel awful, that she couldn't muster up the strength to tell her the truth. That she decided for the girl to see for herself.

  
  


She already saw the difference between this girl being sad and happy. Perhaps not as sad as she might be tomorrow. But still, sad in a way. And it crushed her that she will once more take away that happiness, and replace it with sadness. Of course it wasn't her fault, she knew that. But it never was nice to be the messenger of bad news. Not this kind of news, at least.

  
  


Weiss decided to close her eyes. Tomorrow will be a hectic day, so She might as well try and get some sleep.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


"You're a very healthy girl, which means someone took good care of you." Doctor Schpitselberg, as Weiss learned his name and remembered it after having to pronounce it a few times before she got a grasp of how to properly do it, wore a friendly smile, as he offered Ruby a pat on the head.

  
  


While hesitant at first, Ruby warmed up to the older man. And Weiss was impressed, as he clearly knew how to handle a faunus girl like her. Some people love what they do, and it shows.

  
  


"Now, miss Weiss, I'll have to ask you to come with me. We have a few documents I'll want you to sign." He nodded at the human girl, before turning his attention once more to the redhead. "Ruby, You won't mind waiting here for a moment? You can turn on the radio and listen to some music if you want. It won't take long." He smiled.

  
  


The dog girl smiled back at him. "Alright, but please don't take too long. After this, Weiss is taking me to my owner." She said, her tail wagging behind her as she couldn't contain her happiness about being reunited with her owner.

  
  


Weiss felt her throat tighten, as if someone just grabbed her and was about to choke her. "R-Right, let's go doctor. I'm sure it won't take long." Weiss waited for the man to lead her towards the small cabinet, which was a separate room.

  
  


Once they sat down, both on different sides of the desk, the man spoke. "Its soundproof." He nodded. Weiss blinked, not sure what he meant by that.

  
  


"Excuse me?" She raised a brow.

  
  


"This room is soundproof. It's made this way in case there has to be a talk about something that the patient shouldn't hear. And a lot of faunus kind has sensitive hearing. Like Ruby, since she's a dog faunus. So in case there's something you wish to discuss..." He smiled. Weiss let out a sigh at that.

  
  


"She...won't be happy about the state of her owner. Basically she'll have to have a new owner." Weiss looked to the side.

  
  


Schpitselberg hummed softly before speaking. "I see, and do you wish to adopt her?" Weiss gulped at that. She really was starting to feel as if someone was choking her, as it became harder to breath.

  
  


"I...don't know. I don't have resources to keep a faunus in my home." She said, it was the only argument she had that sounded logical, and that she wasn't ashamed of. Other being responsibility for the girl, having to dedicate time for someone else at all time and not just when she wanted to, like with her other friends. And a lot of minor things in addition to those.

  
  


"You know that there are various monthly financial benefits for people that adopt faunus, and would have otherwise financial issues." The man spoke calmly, and wasn't forceful about it. Not like Yang was, as if she was a monster for having reasonable arguments about not wanting to adopt.

  
  


"I...I don't know. I really don't. It's just so sudden." Weiss still avoided to look directly at the man. She simply looked around at various objects. Books, diplomas, anatomy pictures.

  
  


"Miss Weiss, I know it's unprofessional to speak about this kind of thing. But do you believe in destiny? Fate?" Weiss couldn't help but roll her eyes as she looked at Schpitselberg.

  
  


"My friend tried to convince me to that. But I don't think I would feel comfortable knowing that Fate made such a setup in which someone else suffers for my gain." The Schnee crossed her arms.

  
  


"That's because you put yourself in the center, miss Weiss. But please consider this. Consider that fate is using you, as a tool for Ruby. It's not that fate gave Ruby to you. But that fate gave you to her." The white haired girl lowered her gaze. It did put this entire thing in a different light. Not that Weiss suddenly believed in fate or anything. But...it made Yang's previous statement a bit more logical and less offensive.

  
  


"In any case, We'll treat this visit as if it didn't happen. If anyone stops you for the time being, just send them my way, and I'll buy you time. Either you'll adopt her yourself, give her out to adoption or leave her in the pound. But once you made up your mind, please do call me and I'll offer my aid to help you set things up for whatever it is your choose." Weiss nodded, but she didn't smile. She couldn't. She hated this entire situation. Everyone was so supportive and nice. It made her refusal that much harder.

  
  


"I understand. Thank you doctor. I should know tomorrow. Should I wait till monday or is it alright if I bug you sunday?" She put on a small smile, a polite one, as she once more focused her gaze on the man.

  
  


"Sunday is alright. This isn't a job, miss Weiss. It's my mission. And I'm glad to sacrifice one afternoon to try and help a girl like Ruby." He said as he lead her outside the cabinet.

  
  


Now the horrible part that Weiss dreaded since she woke up...

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


They left the bus at the last stop. Ruby, as per Weiss's request, held the girl's hand not to get lost by accident. She began to lead the girl deeper into this place.

  
  


"Weiss? Is this where my owner wanted to meet up?" The girl asked, she almost bounced from happiness, as she looked around, trying to spot a familiar figure. Weiss remained silent.

  
  


They continued to walk. Weiss counted, she checked it before. She wasn't sure where to go, but it was marked well enough so that she could count to find the place.

  
  


"Weiss? Why...Aren't you saying anything?" Weiss heard it. In her voice, a small seed of doubt. The Schnee avoided looking at the girl. She couldn't. Not now.

  
  


"Umh...I hope it's not something I did? I'm sorry if I did something bad. I'm not sure what I did." The girl continued to babble. It was clear she was full of energy, even if that small seed of doubt was planted, and even if the girl tried to explain her silence to herself.

  
  


"A-And I'm sure you'll like each other. You and my owner. We lived in a small village before, so once we came here we didn't know anyone. So I'm sure you can meet up and be friends and we'll be able to see each other regularly!" At that she felt the girl cling to her arm. Weiss forced her legs to push her forward. If she stopped, she wouldn't be able to continue.

  
  


"I'm glad she's alright. Because she is, right? Otherwise she wouldn't meet up in a place like this. But we'd visit her in a hospital if she was bad. It's where people go when they are bad. Very bad, if they are just bad they visit a doctor like earlier." Weiss stopped counting. They were almost there. Now she had to focus to search not for a number...

  
  


And there it was.

  
  


Summer Rose.

  
  


Engraved on a tombstone. She stopped, and felt the dog girl bump into her, confused. "Weiss? Why...did we stop? Is this the place we're supposed to meet? Do you think It'll take her long to come here?" It was now that Weiss had to look at Ruby. And the look on the Schnee face made the dog girl loose all her confidence, as her tail stopped waggling, and her ears laid flat against her skull.

  
  


"Weiss? What's...going on. You said we'll meet up with my owner. Why are we here, and where is she." Ruby lost her cheerful tone for a more demanding one. She was growing scared.

  
  


"This...This is it." Weiss said, she had to clear her throat as it felt dry. The Schnee looked at the tombstone.

  
  


"W-What...What do you mean. Weiss?" The dog girl was starting to panic, but Weiss remained calm. She had to.

  
  


"This is where your owner is buried. Summer Rose, after being taken to the hospital, she didn't survive the night. I'm Sorry Ruby." She felt the girl let go of her hand.

  
  


The faunus shook her head. "N-No! You're lying!" She moved back a few steps, only to fall down. "This isn't true! You promised, You said we'd see my owner!" The girl looked between Weiss and the tombstone. Tears started to trail down her cheeks.

  
  


Weiss was silent. She didn't know what to say or do. There was a reason her social life looked the way it did. She could deal with official stuff where people pretended or acted in a certain way. Where there were some rules that had to be followed. But this? This had no rules. This had a heartbroken girl having her entire world crushed. Was there anything Weiss could do or say to make it better?

  
  


Ruby crawled closer to Weiss, her hands tugging at her coat. "P-Please, if I did something wrong I'm sorry. Just tell her to come back. I won't do it anymore. I'll be a good girl. But please." She begged. She was desperate to hear that it was a joke. That it was some kind of cruel setup. She would be relieved to hear that. Anything to get her old life back. But once more, Weiss was silent.

  
  


Once Ruby understood there was no way of making things the way she wanted, she moved towards the tombstone. She didn't bother to stand up. She simply continued to crawl, as she ended up on her knees in front of the tombstone. She hugged herself.

  
  


"I'm alone..." She said it once...twice...thrice. She repeated that word. Over and over between her sobs. Her eyes never looking away from the cold stone before her.

  
  


Weiss couldn't take it anymore. She had to do something, anything. Even if it was pointless and have no effect. She couldn't just stand there and watch this girl shatter into pieces.

  
  


She moved closer and crouched next to her, putting an arm around her. "You're not alone, Ruby." She tried to put the most reassuring tone she could muster.

  
  


The faunus shook her head. "No, it's not true. You want to get rid of me. I heard you. You want to give me to the pound." She turned her head to face Weiss. The Schnee saw her red eyes and the moist trails on her cheeks that were constantly renewed by fresh tears. "B-But please, I'll leave you alone. J-Just don't get me to the pound. I'll be fine... by myself. I'll figure something out. I'll leave you alone."

  
  


Weiss looked away from the girl and focused her gaze at the tombstone. It was simple. If what Ruby said earlier was true, there were no relatives and it was made in a simple way, just to bury the body. And in case someone would care enough, like right now.

  
  


"I couldn't even say goodbye." The girl whispered, which brought Weiss's attention back to her.

  
  


"You...still can." The Schnee said. That made Ruby perk her ears up.

  
  


"W-What do you mean?" Weiss had to answer her quickly, in case girl's hopes would get up about her owner being alright, in some way.

  
  


"I-Its why people come to this place. So they can...talk, to people that passed away." Weiss smiled sadly. There was a silence between them for a few moments.

  
  


"A-And...And she will hear me?" Weiss nodded.

  
  


"Yeah." The Schnee wasn't sure if she believed that herself. She always thought she was too young to really start being philosophical about whatever happens after death and all that things. But she never scratched such possibilities off. As such, this was a white lie at worst. Or just a way to cope with losing someone.

  
  


"Ruby? I'll..." She took a deep breath. "I'll leave you so you can say your goodbye in peace. After that? I'll wait at the cemetery gate. There's another gate on the opposite side of this cemetery. If...If you want to run away? Just go to that gate. But..If you somehow would want to live...with me. If you'd like for me to keep you, You'll find me at the gate." She saw the dog girl nod, her empty gaze turning back at the grave.

  
  


Weiss did as she promised and stood up, moving towards the gate. She let out a sigh as she walked along the forest of tombstones...no, not a forest. It's like an orchard of tombstones. They were lined in such an unnatural way. Ironic, considering we claim death to be part of the natural cycle.

  
  


She shook her head. Now was not the best time to be poetic or dramatic, neither philosophical. She really wished she had a smoke right now. But she couldn't. Especially in case Ruby accepts her offer. She will need to balance every penny from that point on.

  
  


Weiss wasn't sure what the girl would do if she opted to run away. She wasn't exactly a rugged type that could survive on the streets. She would most likely be found once more, like the Schnee did that day. Or the pound people would get her.

  
  


Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard footsteps. Familiar footsteps. Weiss smiled sadly as she turned to face the dog girl. Ruby held her gaze on the ground as she stopped next to the Schnee.

  
  


Weiss let out a soft sigh. She wrapped an arm around the girl. "Ready to go home, Ruby?" The faunus girl simply nodded, and Weiss lead her towards the bus stop.

  
  


The Schnee hoped that fate didn't misjudge her, when it picked her to find Ruby that day. Because she sure as hell didn't have the confidence that she could live to any kind of expectations right now.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeaa...
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review/comment and tell me what you thought. Feel free to point any kind of errors, offer suggestions or share your worries about the story (If there are any). Reading reviews/comments helps me stay motivated, as I can assure myself that people are in fact interested in the story.


	5. Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll have a big ass note at the end, so because this is something I Was curious about – Would people be interested in a "Choose your own" type of fic? I didn't see anything like that around, but then again I could simply miss that. Basically a fic where each chapter ends in some open way, and it's up for people reading it to "vote" on one of few options presented to them. I don't want to make this fic into that, but I simply was curious if it's something people would enjoy.
> 
> Edit: I cleaned up some stuff around proper nouns and stuff – mind you not everything, but I'll keep an eye for it in the future chapters. It's what happens when I get too meh about the chapter's content and I get paranoid about the grammar stuff that's alright but I assume it's wrong...But I'm wrong

The ride back was quiet. And Weiss didn't really expect it any other way. Perhaps the only other possibility could be the dog girl crying all the way home, or something along those lines. But that didn't happen, and Weiss glad. Although the reason for feeling that way made her feel bad, as she simply didn't want to bring attention to them.

  
  


This was a new experience for Weiss. When a friend is sad, you meet with them, you do your best, then you part each their own way. Sure, you worry about them, but they aren't actively around you all the time, like Ruby will be from this point on.

  
  


The only way this could be relatable is if she had any family members who would go through some dreadful situation. And she never cared about anyone back home.

  
  


As they entered the apartment, Weiss knew she should break the silence in some way. She lead the faunus girl inside, having an arm wrapped around her, taking only a moment to close the door behind them, and decided the best place for now was the bed, since it was the only furniture that two people could sit on comfortably. Weiss never needed a couch, why would she?

  
  


But it wasn't important right now, The Schnee's time to come up with something has come to an end, as they settled down on the bed. The girl looking like a shadow of herself, even compared to when she first found her.

  
  


"Hey, Ruby?" Weiss began, her voice soft and warm. She could be honest now, the sadness she felt for the girl overcame any of her social habits. It felt odd, but the human girl couldn't dwell on this now, there would be always time for introspective thoughts later.

  
  


The faunus didn't respond, although Weiss saw her ear flicker, a clear sign that she did hear her name being called out. "I know You're sad. It's alright to be sad. It's appropriate to be sad in a moment like this." The Schnee took a breath. Walking on eggshells.

  
  


"But You also need to remember that you should think about moving on. For your sake, and for...and for her sake." Weiss felt the other girl twitch a bit at that, perhaps mention of her previous owner.

  
  


"You can't let it drag you down and ruin you. And she would want you to try and continue living. So while it's hard, You'll have to find strength to remember that. For now? For now it's okay to be sad. But you need to keep in mind that at some point you should move on." The Schnee bit her lip. It sounded so generic. And at that thought, she got an idea.

  
  


"Were you happy with her, Ruby?" That made the girl's ears perk up, as her eyes slowly moved to look at Weiss. The dog girl looked so miserable that the Schnee had to control herself not to do anything too sudden based just on how morose she seemed.

  
  


"Y-Yes." Was her only response, it was clear from her voice that her throat was dry. She wanted to offer her a drink, or something, anything. But that wasn't the time.

  
  


"And what always made you happy with Summer?" The Schnee continued. She hoped this would work. Because otherwise she had no other plan.

  
  


"S-Summer...She would always bake something at sunday. A-And it was always exciting b-because she never told me what she would make. And she locked herself in the kitchen." The girl started, and Weiss saw tears building up in her eyes. "A-And...L-Last sunday she didn't. B-Because she felt bad. A-And..." Weiss had to act. She grabbed the girl's cheeks and forced her to look at her.

  
  


"Ruby, stop. Look at my face. Focus on my face." She moved her thumbs to clear the fresh tears off her cheeks. "I want to meet Summer. But I want to meet her in the best light possible, alright? I want you to tell me about her, everything. Every happy memory You have. And You should focus on that too. On happy memories. It's how she would want you to remember her."

  
  


The dog girl's eyes moved to the side. And Weiss remembered one thing that always cheered her up when she was small and cried for whatever silly reason her child self cried for. It was one of her maids that did it to her whenever she felt that way.

  
  


She leaned in till their noses touch, and gently rubbed it against that of the other girl. It had some effect, as the faunus girl got quite surprise by the sudden gesture from Weiss. The Schnee taking this as a good sign.

  
  


"I won't force this on you. But We could have some pizza, some sugary drinks and You could tell me all about her, and why she was the best Owner anyone could have, alright?" She spoke quietly, continuing the gentle notion of the nose rubs.

  
  


The dog girl was quiet for a moment, but she eventually smiled. It was a meek smile, yet in contrast to how she was previously? It almost shined. She gently moved her head to join in with Weiss's nose rubs, although not as eagerly as the Schnee did so. "A-Alright."

  
  


That made Weiss's smile bigger. She pulled the girl into a hug, and felt the faunus girl hug her back. This was progress, and the Weiss was happy about it.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Weiss slowly dragged her fingers through the girl's bangs, gently and playfully flicking one of the ears whenever she moved past them, mostly for her own amusement, as the ears twitched in response each time. The dog girl was asleep now, stuffed herself full of heavy food and emotionally exhausted.

  
  


The Schnee didn't get too much useful information. Mostly she kept the girl from breaking apart as she spoke about her past, which mainly centered around Summer, her previous owner. Even then it was mostly without much context for Weiss, as Ruby pretty much rambled random things, but it did make her ... Well, happy wasn't the right word. Less sad? Or at least the sadness was controlled.

  
  


Weiss wasn't a very social person, not because of being shy, but because of social interactions not having a set of rules that couldn't be easily broken. While it's true that social sciences proved that in fact each and every interaction type does have rules, the sole idea that anyone can at any point decide to break those? Filled Weiss with anxiety.

  
  


As such, she decided that the best way to handle this sort of situation was to act semi professional, and simply treat it as an interview, the subject being Ruby's previous owner. True, she didn't have any experience, and her only knowledge was of a half year course on the it and even that was forced upon her due to the scholarship requirements, yet it seemed to suffice. Ruby wasn't what's called a hard interviewee. A little bit of verbal nudge here or there, and the faunus was quite eager to speak, to Weiss's relief.

  
  


As such, the entire evening was spent with the Schnee maneuver her questions in a way to not upset the girl, but keep the conversation going. And while countless hours have passed like this, she was glad this pup was finally asleep, as weariness caught up with the human girl.

  
  


Still she knew sleep wouldn't come even if she tried. She always had issues sleeping when under stress, which helped a bit with exams and such, but made things like this much more annoying. How Weiss would love to just sleep through this late evening of conflicting thoughts and worries.

  
  


Instead she opted to reach for her phone. She could call Yang, but that could wake up the girl, and moving to take a walk for the same reason would most likely have the same effect, as such she decided for something else.

  
  


W: Do You have a gun I could borrow?

  
  


She sighed, such a drama queen way of getting attention, but Weiss didn't care. She needed some company, even if it was in text form.

  
  


Y: Excuse me? Do I dare ask...?

  
  


The human girl taped the phone against her chin thoughtfully. To be witty, or be direct was the question. Sadly no witty idea came to mind, so she was left with the direct approach.

  
  


W: You know, just shoot myself and have it over with.

  
  


Once more Weiss didn't care. Normally she'd wince at her own message and decide it was too much, but right now? Right now she wasn't sure if it was an attention grab attempt, or was she simply thinking of some alternative ways of solving her problem.

  
  


Y: Sure Weiss, I'll be right there to personally stick it up your ***.

  
  


Gods bless profanity filters. Still her message did make Weiss smile, although she knew it was on the expense of annoying her friend, she would understand.

  
  


W: How very kind of you Yang, but I think I'll pass on your sweet offer.

  
  


Y: So what's going on.

  
  


W: I apologize Yang, I'm just... Exhausted. Told the dog girl, Ruby, about her owner. The poor thing was heartbroken.

  
  


Y: Ouch...Still gonna give her out?

  
  


W: ...I don't know.

  
  


Y: Hey It'll be fine. Do You want Me to come over tomorrow?

  
  


Weiss sighed at that, would it be alright? Sooner or later Ruby would meet Yang anyway, and have to move on. And it would improve on her own mood greatly if she could see the blonde herself.

  
  


W: If it's not an issue, please do. Bring a bottle of wine if You could, I'm a bit low on funds right now.

  
  


Y: ...You sure?

  
  


W: I don't want to get hammered, I just want to relax a bit, otherwise I'd ask you for something stronger.

  
  


Y: Will do, tomorrow evening with a bottle of wine, listen Weiss I need to do something, so I'll respond with some delays. But I'll respond, so if You want to chat...

  
  


W: It's alright, I'm fine now. Sorry about earlier.

  
  


Y: All good, see you tomorrow!

  
  


W: Have a pleasant night, Yang.

  
  


Weiss threw the phone on her bed, she heard it vibrate once more, most likely Yang sending her a good night of her own, but the white haired girl didn't care to read.

  
  


She couldn't even be mad at anyone, because at who? At Ruby? If this dog girl could pick her fate, she would be back home with her previous owner, happy about not meeting Weiss or anything. At Summer? Because she was sick and died? That was just silly. And It's not like she herself did anything out of the ordinary the day she found Ruby. Stupid fate.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Weiss yawned and stretched as she woke up, immediately remembering why she avoided eating pizza before bed... Pizza nightmares. Or were they nightmare? She was chased by a bunch of ...things, monstrous things, it's what she remembered. And then they surrounded her and started to dance in a circle, one of them asked her if she wants lemon with her tea. Why do drugs, just stuff yourself with pizza and go to sleep.

  
  


She let out a sigh and looked to the side. She saw Ruby facing away from her, and Weiss decided to move up to see if the girl was asleep. She didn't try too hard to be quiet, those canine ears would hear her anyway. As she peeked onto the other side, Weiss saw Ruby wide awake and just staring at the wall.

  
  


The Schnee bit her lower lip gently before speaking. "Good morning Ruby." She tried to sound friendly, although her voice came off more afraid than anything.

  
  


"Hello." Came the apathetic response of the dog girl. Weiss shook her head gently at that, and here she thought there would be progress done after yesterday. She was a fool to think that this could be solved in one day and night.

  
  


"Well I'll prepare some breakfast, or maybe we could just eat the leftover pizza for that, how about that?" The Schnee asked as she began to get up.

  
  


"I'm not hungry." The faunus answered, which made the human girl cringe slightly. This was great, perhaps the faunus doctor could help her out with this, because sure as hell she didn't know what more could she do.

  
  


Weiss simply sighed and got up, she still had things to do, no point in trying to get a mopey faunus to distract her from it, especially since it was in regards of said faunus. Once up, she stretched herself more proper, her stomach grumbling loudly as the food from yesterday was not especially nutritious.

  
  


But certain steps had to be taken before food, like shower, coffee and her laptop.

  
  


Her head briefly turned to peek at the girl, and she saw what she expected to see, Ruby lying motionless in the same position Weiss found her when the human girl woke up. With a shrug she went towards the small bathroom.

  
  


Today was a great day for a cold shower. The girl shivered as she reached for the cold water knob and felt the first droplets hit her bare form. She heard some folks do this sort of thing every morning instead of coffee. How barbaric of them to live this way. Not the cold shower part, but the lack of coffee was what Weiss was most disturbed by.

  
  


Yet, as funny as it sounded, the Schnee knew that it was mostly because she was easy to stick to addictions, gods bless her small income that she could not waste on any sort of destructive addictions. Coffee and faunus memes were enough, at least for now.

  
  


Now it was coffee time. As Weiss stepped out of the bathroom, she once more glanced at the bed, seeing no change she let out a soft sigh. The Schnee hoped she could at least convince the girl to eat something before she had to go to the faunus doctor to discuss legal things with him. Sure, her mind or, if someone was poetic, heart was hurt, yet her body still required some kind of fuel to keep going.

  
  


Speaking of fuel, coffee. The smell of her favorite beverage already painted a smile on her lips. And people say addictions are bad for you. Well they are wrong, since this is as good as people portray love in romance stories, but better! Because it requires nobody but yourself to enjoy it.

  
  


Finally she could sit down on her chair as she opened the laptop and enjoyed her caffeine. First thing was to check her email, and as Weiss did so, she found the usual. Three emails from Neptune, which landed in trash with no more than five clicks, some promotions from sites she registered over time, nothing new, weird or strange. Just like she enjoyed it.

  
  


Then some news sites, her university site, her university email and some sites with funny pictures to enjoy with her coffee. Or she wished for this to be the case, most of those pictures being faunus memes simply reminded her of the hurt girl still laying in her bed. Weiss glanced into the cup, more than half of it was gone already. she might as well get up and try to communicate with her new pet.

  
  


Setting her laptop to the side, she stood up and moved towards the dog girl. She kneeled in a place so that the faunus girl's gaze was on her. "Ruby? You should eat, I'll be leaving in a bit. Are you alright with staying here for a few hours?" The Schnee smiled gently at the girl.

  
  


Ruby's gaze moved away, or as much as she could without moving her head to not directly look at Weiss. "I don't want to be alone." Came her response.

  
  


"But I have to, Ruby. There are some steps I need to go through if I am to become your new owner." The human girl continued in the same, calm tone of voice. This required time and patience, she knew that.

  
  


"I don't want a new owner, I want my old one!" Weiss wasn't sure if she should be happy or not. At one hand, the dog girl was no longer emotionless with her responses, at the other? It was replaced with anger.

  
  


"Ruby I...I know. But she's gone." The Schnee had to keep herself from sighing, still in denial apparently.

  
  


"I don't care!" The dog girl grabbed the sheets and pulled it over her head, trying to hide herself from either the world or Weiss ... Or both.

  
  


"Ruby, please, I know it's hard..." She reached to try and uncover the girl.

  
  


And then it seemed as if the time had slowed down. Once Weiss's hand grasped the sheets and attempted to gently tug it away, Ruby's head appeared from underneath it. Her jaw parted, and soon her fangs and teeth sunk into the soft flesh of the Schnee's hand.

  
  


Weiss was too shocked to really understand what happened, but the pain in her hand launched her self preservation instinct, as she tugged at the hand to try and free it. After the initial bite, Ruby released her hand, so that the human girl stumbled back a bit and away from the faunus. Weiss looked at her own hand, the bite mark visible as blood was seeping slowly.

  
  


Then it hit her, that Ruby might have been still aggressive. Weiss raised her head, but instead of seeing angry faunus, she saw shocked and terrified expression on the dog girl's face. "Oh no...I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The girl repeated over and over, her eyes watering up with tears at that.

  
  


Weiss wasn't angry, nor upset. At least at the moment she didn't feel any of those emotions and her primal fear was already gone. "Ruby..." Weiss reached out towards the girl with her good hand.

  
  


"No! Stay away!" The dog girl began to quickly crawl away from Weiss, not even falling from the bed stopped her. Only once she found herself in a corner, did she curl up and began to sob.

  
  


The Schnee looked at her own hand, the blood was slowly trailing itself along the rest of it. Then she looked up at the girl. Would Ruby be aggressive from this point on? Would she get like this each time she had some kind of memory of her former owner, and could this affect...everything if Weiss decided to go with her last night decisions of keeping her?

  
  


The human girl got up and approached the girl, although stopping at a safe distance, as she once more kneeled and reached out towards the dog girl. "Ruby."

  
  


"No! Stay away! I hurt you! I'm bad, I don't want to hurt you again." Came the panicked response of the faunus, as she tried to crawl herself deeper into the corner, with obviously little success.

  
  


"Ruby, I'm not afraid of You. You're afraid, You were afraid and You're still afraid. I won't go in and force anything on You, alright? But I want you to come to me. You're not bad, You're afraid, scared of ... everything right now. But I'm Your friend, new owner or not, I'm Your friend. So please, Ruby, come to me."

  
  


The dog girl ceased her sobs, at least for now, as she raised her head and peeked at Weiss. She saw the human girl smile gently, with her arms reached towards her. This sight just making her want to cry some more. Which she did, But not before lunging at Weiss.

  
  


The Schnee let out an ompf as she had to sit down in order to not entirely fall down. She wrapped her arms around the crying girl, she heard her apologies over and over in between her sobs. She wrapped one arm around her waist and back, the arm with the bleeding hand, as she required her good hand to pet the girl's hair and ear in a calming manner.

  
  


Deep down she couldn't wait for Yang and more importantly, that wine she was to bring later today.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Weiss was slowly moving through the empty streets, nobody sane would be at this early hour outside, unless attending to church. The Schnee let out a deep sigh, wishing she had a smoke right now, as she browsed through her phone number list, picking the one number she was looking for.

  
  


"Hello? Doctor Schpitselberg? Yes, this is Weiss Schnee from yesterday. Would it be an issue if I came over in less than an hour? I made my decision."

  
  


Weiss looked at her bandaged hand, it still stung slightly, especially when she moved her fingers around, but the pain wasn't that big, meaning Ruby didn't bite through anything important, or so the Schnee hoped.

  
  


"My decision?"

  
  


The human girl continued to gaze at her open hand, only to clench it into a fist.

  
  


"I'll keep her."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, this chapter is a personal failure of mine. Why? Because I wanted to have part of it Ruby telling something about Summer and her life with Summer. But I just couldn't come up with anything fun. Not in terms of her past, but in terms of presenting it in any form that would click inside my head, something I would be satisfied with. And so, that was why this chapter was so delayed so much. I basically at some point decided to just go through with it, since the longer I would sit on it, the less motivated I would get without really solving the problem I had.
> 
> Second is, I was struggling with a short period of insomnia, something I regularly get hit with, and kinda screw up a lot of things in my life that later require fixing. Like my writing schedule.
> 
> Lastly I know some folks were annoyed with one sided phone conversations, but this time it was on purpose for...well, I dunno...dramatic stuff or something. Any normal phone convo will be two-sided because You want to peek on someone's privacy apparently.
> 
> So yeah, I hate to make my chapters/stories blogs with these notes, but I really try to keep people informed if something happens that could potentially affect my writing or update times.
> 
> Hope You enjoyed this chapter! Please do leave a review/comment and tell me if You found something you disliked or something you liked. Share your worries, thoughts and ideas as well. Reading comments/reviews really fuels up my motivation!


	6. Pay to win

"Miss Weiss, please come in. I'm glad you made up your mind about Ruby." The man said as Weiss entered the room and was lead further inside into the small cabinet from day before. All the while having a fake, polite smile plastered on her face.

  
  


"You said about certain financial benefits that should minimize my difficult situation, and that made me reconsider it." The Schnee nodded as she sat down. She wasn't sure herself if she was lying, or perhaps was she telling the truth, or even a half truth. This entire situation confused her beyond belief.

  
  


"Of course, but first you'll have to register her properly. She's technically not yet under your supervision." The man explained, and that made Weiss wince slightly.

  
  


"Does it cost anything?" She felt like such a fool, instead of getting bitten by her soon to be pet, she could have spent at most half an hour to educate herself properly in some basic laws around adopting faunus.

  
  


"That depends, normally it's for free, but there's a fee that can be paid to speed things up." The man let a soft sigh at that, leaning back in his chair.

  
  


"...A fee? What does the fee grants?" Weiss already didn't like where this was going, when there's a free option and a pay option, that means the free option is designed in a way so that people would opt for the pay variant, unless they really didn't have the financial backing...Like her.

  
  


"Since the entire thing takes time, a fee grants a temporary ownership, which later, after the process is finished, is turned into a permanent ownership." He explained calmly.

  
  


"Numbers, doctor. How much and how long." The Schnee felt her jaw clench as she waited for the man to answer.

  
  


"A few months, and two hundred." The white haired girl could feel her ears heat up and a feeling in her stomach as if someone just grabbed her by the guts.

  
  


This meant that... "Ruby would need to wait in the pound for a few months, or I would need to pay two hundred to keep her as she is." Ordering a pizza and buying a bottle of soda was one thing, but paying two hundred... That was something She wasn't able to afford.

  
  


"Now miss Weiss, pounds aren't as bad as people make them to be. Mostly it's because faunus in there have less chance to be picked as pets, but in Ruby's case she knows that there's a home waiting for her, and it's just a few months." The man said in a reassuring tone of voice.

  
  


The Schnee once more put on a fake smile, there was no point in being dramatic in front of this man, as he had no further aid to her cause, nor would it lead to anything productive. "Of course, how long do I have before I make the decision?"

  
  


"I recommend not taking longer than a week from now." Weiss nodded.

  
  


"I'll consider my options, thank you for your help. If I'll have any further information or questions I have your phone number." Weiss remained calm, as her fake smile lingered on her face.

  
  


"And what about your hand? If I may indulge miss Weiss?" The man raised a brow, and that made the girl's smile disappear.

  
  


"It's nothing." She answered dryly.

  
  


"Was it Ruby?" Now it was his turn to sound worried, as concern entered the man's features.

  
  


"No. Like I said, it was nothing." Weiss's tone growing cold, she wasn't sure if Ruby's bite meant anything, and if it did, was it be negative or positive, and she wasn't about to gamble on that.

  
  


"In case She...DID bite you in the future, near future, you shouldn't be alarmed. She's a healthy girl, and it's normal for a faunus to be sensitive when losing a long time owner." The man's expression softening a bit.

  
  


Weiss knew that he knew, but as long as nothing was said out loud, it meant nothing, as the man had no power to make her confess anything. The girl simply nodded at that.

  
  


oooOOooo

  
  


It being sunday, Weiss had to leave the bus two stops before where she usually did, the reason being that the only place where she could get what she wanted was a gas station.

  
  


"Anything else?" The extremely bored man asked in a monotone voice as he finished scanning the products that Weiss brought to the counter.

  
  


"Pack of cigarettes, the blue ones." She said and paid for everything, taking the bag into her hand she moved towards the bus stop once more. She might as well take the bus all the way home.

  
  


"Right, a lighter, you silly girl." The Schnee muttered to herself and turned around, wanting to head back towards the direction in which the gas station was, only stopping at the sight of oncoming bus. Weiss sighed, the next one was in twenty minutes, and it was already late. There goes her plan to relax.

  
  


As she entered the bus, she was blessed with nobody being inside. She opted to do something that usually was considered rude, as she took her phone out and called Yang. There's nobody inside, and she purposely sat down at the end of the bus to not accidentally disturb the driver.

  
  


"Hello, Yang?"

  
  


"Mmm...No, this is Blake speaking." A mellow voice answered Weiss, she blinked in surprise.

  
  


"Did something happen to Yang?" The Schnee frowned, was her streak of bad luck continuing?

  
  


"No, she's simply taking a shower, is it important? I can call her."

  
  


"No, no..." The human girl bit her lower lip, she always felt awkward talking with Blake, perhaps it was the idea that she previously saw her while she was sick, it painted a very unsettling image. "...But could I leave you a message to her?"

  
  


"Of course."

  
  


"Tell her that plans have changed and I have to visit you guys, or we will need to reschedule it for some other time."

  
  


"Alright, you can come over." That made the girl raise a brow. Was she allowed to make such decisions?

  
  


"Are you sure Yang will be alright with that? You haven't asked her." Weiss wasn't sure if it was polite to ask such a thing or not, but she had to make sure.

  
  


"Mhm." Came a simple answer, and the Schnee had no other choice but to accept that.

  
  


"Right, it was...nice talking to you Blake. I'll come over at the same time as Yang was supposed to visit. See you later."

  
  


"Good bye."

  
  


Click.

  
  


Weiss sighed, kingdom for a lighter.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


"Ruby, I'm home." Weiss announced as she locked the doors behind her. She looked around her small apartment only to see the girl curled in in front of a closed laptop. She left it open for her to not make her just stare at a wall, but it seems as if the dog girl wasn't in the mood to watch anything.

  
  


Weiss approached the bed that the girl was laying on and sat on the edge. Her hand reached to gently pet the girl's hair. "Ruby, are you asleep?"

  
  


"No." Came a quiet response from the girl. The Schnee moved her hand along the redhead's bangs.

  
  


"I'll prepare some food, and after that I'll have to leave for a bit again." Weiss wasn't sure if it was alright to leave Ruby all by herself in a state like this, but she had to consult this with Yang, and having the dog girl around wouldn't help much.

  
  


"Is it because I bit you?" The human girl winced at that. So now outside of her grief, she also was feeling guilty.

  
  


"Ruby, come on. Sit up." Weiss tugged at the other girl's arm. While she couldn't do anything about the girl's sadness over her previous owner, she could try to convince her that her previous act was nothing more than an accident.

  
  


"I don't want to." The dog girl whined and pouted. Weiss stopped with her tugs and chewed on the inside of her cheek thoughtfully.

  
  


"But I want a hug, Ruby. Can I have a hug? Please?" Weiss asked in a pleading voice. She saw the faunus squirm slightly at the request, and perhaps at the tone of voice she used.

  
  


"I just want to be alone." The dog girl finally answered, to which Weiss couldn't help but sigh sadly. She laid down behind the girl, as she gently wrapped an arm around her waist and attempted to tug her closer. She felt her squirm a bit, but after a second she gave up, adjusting herself so she rested more comfortably against the human girl.

  
  


"I don't believe you, Ruby.” Was all Weiss said. Perhaps she wasn’t the greatest detective around, but if that was the case, the faunus wouldn’t be so worried about her leaving again. But of course pressuring her about it would lead to nothing, so the human girl had to be once more patient.

  
  


Ruby turned around to face Weiss, something that surprised the Schnee. Both girls now laid facing each other, looking into each other's eyes.

  
  


Weiss didn’t believe in all these romantic, hokus pokus kind of talk with seeing soul through someone’s eyes or being able to read emotions by simply looking at someone’s eyes. Basicly all these overly romanticized things revolving around eyeballs.

  
  


At least up till now.

  
  


Perhaps Weiss was tired, or it was her mind playing tricks on her, but she could swear that behind Ruby’s silver eyes, was nothing more than painted misery and sadness. “I don’t want to be alone.” The redhead faunus said in a meek voice.

  
  


Weiss could feel as if something just grabbed her stomach and held it tight. She slowly reached with one of her hands to place it on top of the other girl’s cheek, as her thumb gently caressed the skin. “You won’t be alone, I’m not leaving forever. Just for a few hours.”

  
  


“Do you promise you won't leave me alone forever?” Ruby’s words made Weiss clench her jaw. This poor girl knew her less than a week, lost everything she had in life, and the only thing she could do is trust her.

  
  


And here she was, not being able to afford the quick option for adoption. She knew what to say, of course. It will crush her fragile heart if she was to say it, and then simply take her to the pound, because it’s how rules work. Few months will ruin this girl entirely, to the point that she won’t look forward towards anything. Like a flower without sunlight, perish to it’s misery.

  
  


“I promise, Ruby.”

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


“What the f…” Weiss took a deep breath. “What do you mean you’re out of lighters. It’s not some rare commodity damn it!” Weiss smashed her hand against the wooden counter. She was pissed, it was sunday, as such not every store was open, and in addition it was getting late, so her options were even more limited. And the only store she stumbled upon that was open, was out of the one thing she needed right now.

  
  


“Listen miss, if you break something, you’ll pay for the damage. Your anger won’t magically make me have a supply of lighters. If you don’t want to buy anything else, I’ll kindly ask you to leave.” The middle aged man behind the counter tried his best to be diplomatic and as polite as he could, considering how pissed the Schnee was right now. And semi-aggressive.

  
  


“Ugh, fine.” Was all she said before leaving, making sure to slam the doors behind her. She got off her bus one stop earlier just in hopes that she could get a lighter inside this stupid store. And now she had to go towards Yang’s apartment on foot and without a damn smoke.

  
  


As the Schnee walked through the empty streets, her mind got more and more clear off the angry clouds that loomed over her brain. Perhaps this was for better, Yang would sniff the cigarettes easily, and get annoyed with her. And that was the last thing she wanted right now, annoyed Yang. She needed support, not a saint who would tell her how bad it is to smoke. She doesn’t want to smoke because she wants to ruin her health, it’s because nicotine relieves stress damn it.

  
  


Still, facts were facts, and she didn’t have a lighter, as such Yang wouldn’t get annoyed and perhaps she could get some ideas… Or just get a little bit of distraction. She could use a lot of distraction right now.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter. Also a note, Yang and Weiss are friends, because I know some people might think or worry that this will have some hints at past freezerburn or have some elements of it in the present.
> 
> I'm in a bit of a oneshot mood lately. And that will only continue as I'll prepare treats for the holiday season. I do have a hefty goal of having at least 6 oneshots for that occasion. At least 6
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, don't hesitate to leave a review/comment. I'd love to read your thoughts and/or ideas. As well as pointing out things I might have done correctly/good/fun/whatever or things I might have butchered/borked/etc. It fuels my motivation.


	7. Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to be sure, I'll repeat. Weiss and Yang are friends, I'm not even hinting at any kind of freezerburn. I'm saying this JUUUUST in case. So please stop throwing bricks at my windows.

"Weiss! It was only a few days and I felt like it were months since the last time I saw you." The tall blonde girl grinned at the Schnee as she opened the door. "Come in, ho'boy, you look like you've seen better days."

  
  


"You could say I did, yes." Weiss smiled back, although not as cheerful as her friend. She entered Yang's apartment, looking around curiously. "Blake's not home?" She tilted her head as she looked at the other girl.

  
  


"Naw, she's on one of her evening slash night walks. You know how cat faunus are" The blonde shrugged, closing the door behind the Schnee. "Besides, she doesn't like alcohol, smell or taste, so she opted to give us some time alone. She said you sounded quite... distressed. That doggy girl giving you that much of a kick?" Yang lead her guest further into the small home she rented.

  
  


"It's not... exactly her fault, Yang. It's more the bureaucracy around it. You'd think that if you wanted to spare them having another faunus in the pound, they'd be more than glad to make it as simple as possible." Weiss sighed, even the word bureaucracy was annoying.

  
  


"Tell me about it, I still have nightmares about these endless lines I had to stand at to register Blake and all that." Yang snickered. "Get yourself comfortable, and I'll get us some glasses and some good wine!"

  
  


Weiss sat down just as offered, smirking. "Good wine?" She raised a brow.

  
  


"Yep! Just slightly above the cheapest!" Yang barked a laugh as she entered the kitchen.

  
  


"Well aren't we for a treat today." Weiss giggled, while a year and a half ago she would be disgusted with anything but the finest alcohol offered, she got used to it. Both her and Yang were earning just enough to survive, sadly not enough to really indulge in any kind of fancy pleasures, at least not while juggling education and part time jobs.

  
  


"Eh it's not that bad, fruity flavour and isn't that hard, but still kicks in after a few." Yang explained as she came back to the room, settling the two wine glasses and a bottle of wine on top of a coffee table.

  
  


"I'll take that over beer or other stuff anyday." Weiss smiled at Yang, reassuring her she was alright with her choice of beverage.

  
  


As the taller girl settled down herself on the couch, she suddenly raised a brow, as she stared at the white haired girl. "Uh, Weiss? What's in your pocket?" Damn it, the package, she forgot to put it in a less visible spot.

  
  


"It's nothing, Yang." Weiss placed a hand on top of her pocket, to cover the object inside of it.

  
  


"If it's nothing, why can't you tell me what it is." The blonde squinted as she leaned a bit towards the Schnee.

  
  


In return, Weiss leaned back and away from her friend. "Because it's none of your business." Her reply came off in a sharp, cold tone.

  
  


"Weiss, we both know that I already figured out what it is. So just hand over the package." Yang sent the other girl a stern look as she frowned. Her hand moving towards the girl.

  
  


"Yang I paid for it and I won't let you just take it away and throw it out." Weiss now grasped the package through her pants, as if protective over it.

  
  


"Then I'll buy it back from you." Yang answered, although all she received in return was silence. "Come on Weiss, we both know that I'll get it either way. Besides I thought you quit. And that you quitting it was like a big symbol of your new life. Away from you father and..." She was interrupted as a small package hit her. The small cardboard box filled with nicotine sticks bounced harmlessly off Yang's chest.

  
  


"Fine! Take it! To hell with it and everything else!" Came Weiss's sharp response. The white haired girl curled in her sitting position as she hid her head between her arms. Her hands reaching to grasp at her own hair.

  
  


She was so sick of all this. It took her a year and a half to get to where she was, to her own life. She had her own house, her own education and her own job. She lived from day to day, enjoying her routine, with at least a few perspectives ahead of her.

  
  


And now everything was getting complicated. She should just leave Yang's home, go back to her own appartement, take that dog girl to the pound and just get it over with. Who cares. She would get over her remorse. She would be back with her normal life. She would enjoy her own home. She would enjoy her own job. She would enjoy her own education. She... She...

  
  


She would become a monster.

  
  


Weiss felt a tickling sensation at her chin as tears already rolled down her cheeks, and meet at that point, falling off onto her lap.

  
  


"Hey, hey, hey! None of that, Weiss." The Schnee felt the strong arm of the blonde wrap around her.

  
  


Yang pulled the smaller girl towards herself with one arm, as her free hand pressed the white haired girl's head against her chest. She held the girl tightly, not wanting to let go of her, or in case she would wish to try and move away.

  
  


But Weiss didn't plan on that. Quite the opposite, as she pressed herself more against the taller girl, wrapping her arm and simply releasing all the frustration that managed to build up in her over these few days. As she sobbed into the other girl's shirt.

  
  


Yang remained silent, simply allowing her friend to let it all out, one of her hand rubbed her back, as she brushed the fingers of her other hand through the girl's hair.

  
  


It continued for a good ten to fifteen minutes, more or less, before Weiss moved away from Yang. Pulling her own sleeves to dry her cheeks and eyes.

  
  


"Feeling better?" Yang smiled, a soft, gentle smile, as she still kept a hand on the other girl's shoulder.

  
  


"I-I think so. I apologize Yang. F-For everything." The Schnee looked away from the blonde. She felt stupid, stupid and bad for what she said, did and thought. Perhaps especially for what she thought.

  
  


"It's alright, but you didn't answer me, feeling better?" Yang inquired once more, her eyes carefully watching the white haired girl and her reactions.

  
  


“In some way I… I do feel better, yes.” Weiss answered honestly. She did feel relieved, but at the same time? At the same time her current behaviour, as well as her dark thoughts burdened her heart.

  
  


“So in what way do you not feel better? I’m afraid it’s a confession Weiss, ain’t letting you go till you spill the beans.” The blonde nodded.

  
  


“Does that make you're a nun, Yang?” Weiss raised a brow. “Because if that’s the case, I don’t think it’s believable if you’re not wearing the full outfit.” The Schnee let out a snicker.

  
  


“Ooo, someone like's to play dress up, this is turning extremely kinky Weiss, and we haven’t even opened the wine.” Yang waggled her eyebrows, to which the white haired girl couldn’t help but blush.

  
  


“Y-Yang! Ugh, to turn it in such a direction.” Weiss punched the other girl in the shoulder, although she couldn’t help but smile at that, knowing that the blonde was merely teasing her.

  
  


“Ouch, hey you started it!” Yang grinned as she saw the other girl smile, her hand reaching to rub her arm as if Weiss’s hit really did hurt her.

  
  


Yet soon the Schnee’s smile got a hint of sadness, as the shorter girl let out a deep sigh. “I didn’t mean to come here and be hissy at you, Yang. And then there’s this voice inside my head that tells me these horrible things, and the worst is that sometimes I wonder if I should listen to it.”

  
  


“Really Weiss, you think I’ll get mad at you for something like that?” The blonde raised a brow as she smirked. “We’re friends, or did you forget? And I clearly can see that this entire situation bugs you like crazy.” Yang moved her arm to wrap it around the Schnee once more, although this time more loosely. “Now I’ll keep my judgement on calling you crazy for having voices in your head, but you gotta be honest what they tell you.”

  
  


Weiss rolled her eyes at that, although once more it did help keep a smile on her lips. “They aren’t telling me to kill people, if that’s what you’re worrying over, Yang.” The white haired girl let out a soft chuckle. “It’s more like… Like these dark thoughts, you know. Like the smoking and… And if it wouldn’t be better if I just put Ruby in a pound.” The Schnee looked away at that, ashamed of what she just said.

  
  


“Pfft, So? Weiss you’re acting like you’re being under stress for the first time.” Yang patted the other girl as she smiled, quite amused at the issue at hand. “Don’t you remember whenever we have exams or tests, and you spend the entire night over books and just wonder if it wouldn’t just be better to throw it all to hell?”

  
  


“...Not really Yang.” Weiss raised her brow at such alien concept.

  
  


“Bad example, but you know what I mean. You had to have some stressful moment where you just wanted to give up. You’re tired, exhausted. Be it physically or mentally, and it’s natural to think this way.” The blonde grinned at her friend and pulled her a bit closer.

  
  


“I understand what you’re trying to say, Yang. But not studying for a test, and thinking about ruining some innocent beings life is… two different things.” Weiss shook her head.

  
  


“When you focus on details, it sure is. But what I said still stands. These thoughts are there because you’re tired. Once everything settles down? I’m sure you won’t even remember about having these.” Yang flashed her another grin.

  
  


“...About that.” Weiss felt her throat tighten. “There are complications, and I’m not sure what to do about them.” The white haired girl let out a soft, tired sigh.

  
  


“You… Don’t mean the hand, right?” Yang inquired, to which Weiss couldn’t help but blink, she completely forgot about that.

  
  


“N-No, no. It… It was an accident.” The Schnee looked at her bandaged hand and shook her head, deciding to continue with the original topic before the blonde asked more questions. “I visited the doctor, that looked her over, because he was eager to help me adopt her and everything.”

  
  


“Neat, sounds like a nice guy.” The taller girl smiled.

  
  


“Perhaps… But he told me I’d have to pay a fee if I was to adopt her immediately. Otherwise she would stay at the pound, where she would wait for all the paperwork to be done, and my request accepted.” The Schnee took a deep breath at that, calming herself down.

  
  


“Ouch, how… long? and how much.” Smile was gone off of the blonde’s face at Weiss’s words.

  
  


“Time? He said a few months, but the more I thought about it, the more worried I got that he was trying to make it seem less than it really is. Like, the minimum amount of time you need to wait. Goodness knows how long Ruby would need to stay there though.” The Schnee rested her head against the couch as she closed her eyes.

  
  


"And cash? How much?" Yang inquired further.

  
  


"Shouldn't you know? I mean... With Blake and everything?" Weiss raised a brow as she peered at her friend curiously.

  
  


"Erh..." The taller girl rubbed the back of her head. "You know it was a special case, in the end I guess it was too much of a hassle for them, so they opted to sign all papers at the spot. You know, if something happens, it would be on me." The blonde shrugged.

  
  


"Right, lucky you. Two hundred." Weiss finally answered the question.

  
  


"Ouch." Yang winced at that. "That's... A lot of money to spend on just paperwork."

  
  


After that both girls went silent. Weiss wasn't sure what else to add to that. It was expensive and there was nothing to do about it. She could get a loan but that could potentially turn out worse. Then again who would give her a loan? Bank? She isn't raising enough, and is just working part time. And reason being faunus adoption, that also didn't raise too much chances for that kind of solution.

  
  


There were the shady, barely legal loan offers that would expect her to give back like five times what she loaned, and that of course was out of question.

  
  


"What about your boss?" Yang finally broke the silence, making Weiss blink.

  
  


"What about my boss?" The Schnee frowned, she already didn't like where this was going.

  
  


“Couldn't you ask him? You know, to loan you some cash.” The blonde looked hopefully at the Schnee.

  
  


“Yang! I won’t ask my boss for a loan, are you crazy?” Weiss frowned, how would that even work. With a sigh the white haired girl shook her head.

  
  


“Well then I don’t have any other ideas for now, Sorry.” The taller girl shrugged. “When do you have to make the decision?”

  
  


“The doc said I have a week, so I guess friday is where I need to go register her as a stray faunus and either decide to pay the fee or…” Weiss couldn’t finish that sentence, she once more felt her throat grew tight.

  
  


“Plenty of time to come up with a solution then!” Yang announced with determination. “Don’t worry, Weiss, you're not alone in this, I got your back.” She grinned to her friend. “Meanwhile we should try and relax a bit, starting from tomorrow we’ll have plenty of brainstorming to do. But you deserve an evening off. Besides I already got us some wine, so no reason to waste it.”

  
  


Weiss smiled at that, she wasn’t sure which part made her smile. Was it the determination in the blonde’s voice? Or the fact she no longer felt alone in this issue. There was also a chance that it was simply the idea of relaxing with some wine, as low quality as it might be. But truth be? She suspected that it was the mix of all of these. Mostly the first two, she didn’t barely escape one of her previous addictions to jump into some brand new. And alcoholism of all of them was the worst. She wouldn’t end up like her mother.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Three fourth of the bottle later, Weiss felt better. It wasn’t of course just the drink, if she was to drink alone, she would most likely succumb to some form of crushing sadness. But Yang kept her spirit up.

  
  


“Yep, and then he's all like ‘hold my beer’ and went to do it.” Yang finished her story with a grin. Weiss couldn’t help but giggle at that.

  
  


“He did not, did he really?!” she shook her head, as if refusing to believe what the blonde just told her. Although as she did so, she noticed how dark it already was and reached towards her phone to check the time.

  
  


“Totally did, can ask… basicly anyone from our year… What’s up Weiss?” The blonde inquired as she noticed her friend looking at the phone.

  
  


“Oh goodness it’s so late already. I should get back.” The Schnee attempted to get up, although she wobbled a bit as she felt the alcohol work on her balance.

  
  


“Erh, are you sure, Weiss? It’s late and you’re not exactly sober.” Yang winced, as she looked worriedly over the white haired girl.

  
  


“I promised Ruby I wouldn’t be out too long. She already has a lot on her mind, I don’t want make her think I abandoned her.” The Schnee was determined, and wouldn’t let herself get convinced otherwise.

  
  


Yang wanted to retort with something, but at the same time the front doors opened and Blake entered the apartment. She looked at the two girls and smiled. "Hello." She offered a simple greeting and moved to a different room, not paying much attention to either of them after that.

  
  


"Since I'm in no better shape than you are, how about I send Blake with you? Just to make sure." The blonde offered with a smile.

  
  


That wasn't something Weiss was happy about. Sure, she didn't dislike Blake, but... An awkward walk with her through the night? That was most certainly not something she wished for right now. "I... Don't know Yang, I mean, I'll be fine. It's just a short walk to the bus stop, and from there I should be fine. Besides, it's late so what if something happens to Blake when she's coming back huh?"

  
  


"Nah, she loves her night walks, and can take care of herself more than any of us. Come on Weiss, You know I'll send her anyway, so she can go with you, or behind you. I just want to make sure you're safe. So how will it be." The blonde crossed her arms.

  
  


"You know, your tough love is getting annoying Yang." A grimace appeared on the Schnee's face.

  
  


Still the taller girl wasn't really minding that, as she grinned. "Hey, you take the whole package, or don't take it at all." She winked at her friend and stood up to move towards the room where Blake previously disappeared. "You can get ready and I'll talk to Blake." with that she disappeared inside the darkness of the second room.

  
  


Weiss rolled her eyes, although a small smile did creep on her lips. Full package, indeed. She decided to do as Yang told her, although sneaking out did cross her mind, she opted to simply have the awkward ride home with the black cat.

  
  


As Weiss was ready to leave, both Blake and Yang exited the room and approached the girl. "Oh right, here." The blonde suddenly pushed a bill into the confused Schnee's hand.

  
  


"...What?" Perhaps it was the alcohol, or she was tired, but that was all Weiss could muster.

  
  


"For the package, I told you earlier I'd pay you back." She then suddenly placed a finger on top of the white haired girl's lips. "Now stop whatever you're trying to say. You have a new pet, and you need all the money you need. So while I can't give you any, I can at least try to fix that little mistake you made."

  
  


Weiss looked at the bill, and then back at Yang. Once more she could blame the alcohol, as she lunged forward to hug the taller girl. "Yang I don't know what I would do without you." She felt the other girls arm wrap around her in a friendly hug.

  
  


It was Blake who broke the moment. "It's getting late, we should go."

  
  


The two girls parted, sharing one last smile. "Be safe, both of you!" Was the last thing Yang told them before closing the door behind them.

  
  


Weiss sighed. This will be a long walk home.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


It was a quiet one, that's for sure. Weiss felt a bit nervous around Blake, and whenever the faunus saw that the Schnee was looking at her, she offered her a small smile, before looking back ahead

  
  


And it was that way up till they get off the bus, close to the white haired girl's apartment, as Blake surprisingly was the one to break the silence. "How is she?" She peered at the Schnee.

  
  


Weiss raised a brow at that. "Who do you mean?"

  
  


"Your faunus, Yang told me you got a dog one. How is she." The cat smiled softly as she inquired further.

  
  


Weiss opened her mouth to answer... But had to close it. She let out a soft sigh. "I don't know. Up till now she was miserable when I got her, because she was lost and confused. Then she got extremely hyped and happy because she thought that she'd go back to her owner and her old life." Weiss gulped at the memory of that day, shaking her head to try and clear her mind.

  
  


"And how is she now?" Blake's smile disappeared as she tilted her head curiously.

  
  


"Depressed and sad." Weiss shrugged defeatedly.

  
  


"She will never forget you that you saved her." Blake suddenly spoke, a smile once more on her lips.

  
  


"Hm?" Weiss focused her gaze on the faunus walking besides her, the sudden statement distracting her from the thoughts she had lingering inside her head.

  
  


"Your faunus, she won't forget you that you got her a home, and you fought for her." Blake's smile grew a tiny bit more at that.

  
  


"Did... Yang tell you to talk about it with me?" Weiss raised a brow, was this part of the blonde's plan to ensure she would keep Ruby.

  
  


"Mmm... No, She just explained to me your situation so I understood in case you'd act moody." The cat faunus giggled. "But I thought that's very brave of you to do that for your faunus. For any faunus. And I want you to remember that. No matter how she behaves now, you'll make her happy and she will never forget that."

  
  


"Is it how you feel about Yang?" Weiss peered at the black haired girl curiously. And to her surprise she saw the faunus blush and timidly look to the ground, her only response being a small nod.

  
  


That ended the conversation for the rest of the walk back home, although Weiss felt more... comfortable around the quiet cat girl.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Weiss entered her small domain, curious about the state in which she would find Ruby.

  
  


The dog girl was laying on the bed with a book in front of her. It was one of her economics book, which the Schnee found amusing that it made the girl so curious. Weiss approached the girl, and she saw her ear twitch at some moment, deciding it was a good time to make her presence obvious. "Hey Ruby, I'm back."

  
  


The dog girl looked up from the book, while her smile at the sight of the Schnee was small, it was her tail that betrayed her true feeling, as it waggled quickly from side to side. "Welcome back. I um... I took your book, I'm sorry." The waggling died as soon as it started after her words.

  
  


Weiss giggled as she laid down on the bed, not caring about doing so in the same clothes she was just outside. "It's alright Ruby, as long as you don't destroy anything, and put things back where they were, my home is now yours."

  
  


That made the dog girl's smile grow a tiny bit, but clearly noticeable for the Schnee. "Alright." She added, and with the corner of her eye Weiss could notice the tail moving once more. And that was the last line for the Schnee.

  
  


She reached towards the girl and wrapped her arms around the redhead, as she pulled her into a hug. "I promise you that everything will be alright." She murmured into the girl's dress, enjoying the warmness that Ruby radiated with, her being a faunus and all that.

  
  


And as she felt the exhaustion over her entire day, and the warm feeling ot the dog girl, The Schnee slowly fell asleep.

  
  


Leaving one confused faunus behind.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of like this chapter. Which most likely means it sucks. But it is what it is.
> 
> Also a question, or rather something along the lines of thinking out loud, should I decide on some kind of schedule for stories like this? Like post every friday or post every two weeks at saturday, this kind of stuff (These are just examples of what I mean). Because I often update or upload my stuff like a spaz. Meaning I can write like 3 oneshots and 2 chapters for some stories in 3 days, but then be silent for like a week. Having a deadline could potentially push me towards more consistency with my writing, but at the same time I'm afraid it would start feeling like a "must" and not "want". It really is something I'm considering, and if anyone can add in their two cents? Feel free.  
> Speaking of schedule, I might be taking a break from this story for a short bit. Why? Well, because christmas is up ahead, and I decided to prepare a few stories to celebrate that by offering a few oneshots themed by that holiday. I know right? Worst gift ever, you'd rather have wool socks, at least they'd keep you warm or something. But it is what it is, and due to the nature of my updates (Like I said, I update like a spaz) you might not even notice it. But just in case I do take a longer time, that's why. Once I'm done preparing those, I'll get back to writing this and my other story. I actually should give some love to that other story ...
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed the story! I want to ask you to leave a review/comment and tell me what you thought about this chapter. All the goods and bads, as well as your general thoughts. I like to interact with folks that read my crap, and reading your reviews/comments fuels me with motivation to write more.


	8. Bonus 1

"Weiss, come on, Weiss, wake up." Ruby nudged the other girl to get up.

  
  


The white haired girl yawned as she opened her eyes, peering over the redhead with her sleepy glare. She hated being woken up like that. "Ruuby, please, a few more minutes...hours." The tired girl mumbled and curled up to get back to sleep.

  
  


"Nuh huh, come on Weiss, up we go." Ruby picked up the other girl from her small bed. "Weiss, you're being a lazy kitty." The redhead said as she felt the white haired cat girl squirm in her grasp.

  
  


"I just want to sleep, it's early. Why are we up early." The cat girl pouted at her human owner.

  
  


"Because." Ruby started and settled the girl on the ground. "Today is a special day. Now how do you want your fish." The redhead smiled as she moved towards the kitchen.

  
  


The cat girl rolled her eyes but followed, still grumbling. Weiss hated surprises like that, especially if it meant that she couldn't sleep till noon. Weiss loved sleeping till noon, and then take a nap after breakfast to rest after her sleep. Being a cat was a tough business.

  
  


"And here's your tuna coffee, now you didn't answer my earlier question, Weiss." Ruby placed the steaming cup in front of the white haired girl, and playfully tugged at her ears. "Now speak up, I don't want you to go hungry."

  
  


The faunus girl squirmed at the ear tug, it both felt annoying, but pleasant, to have her ears played with in any fashion, especially since her owner learned exactly how to do it in the most pleasant way. That of course was the annoying part, as Ruby knew exactly how to push her buttons to make her dance as she wanted.

  
  


"Nnngh...O-On toast, on toast! N-Now stop it!" The cat girl shook her head, Ruby giggled at the reaction and let go of her ears. She then leaned down to kiss the top of her head and pet her for a moment, before moving on.

  
  


Weiss couldn't help but smile a bit at the gesture, something she hated as well. She couldn't even stay grumpy at being woken up. Stupid, caring and fun owner. As she grumbled to herself, she reached towards her cup, as she desperately required some tuna caffeine inside her system.

  
  


"So where are we going? And couldn't we go later, like for example tomorrow?" Weiss raised a brow as her lips slurped on the drink.

  
  


"Weiss, first of all, wait till it cools down enough so you can drink it normally, it's rude to do what you're doing. Second, we're going to a doctor, but for what? That's a surprise. But I'm sure you'll love it. I prepared for this for quite a bit just for you." Ruby grinned at the other girl, as she finished preparing her breakfast.

  
  


"Mmmh... But it takes too long to wait till it cools down." The kitty answered as she settled down the cup with a sigh. She wanted to drink it now, not wait a few minutes.

  
  


"You're such a grump early in the morning." Ruby said as she placed a platter of toast with fish pasta smeared on top of it. As she did, she leaned down to once more kiss the top of her head.

  
  


"Am not!" The cat girl pouted, to which she received a giggle from her owner.

  
  


"Such a defiant kitty cat, but I still love you." Ruby decided to once more lean down, this time to briefly hug her faunus.

  
  


"Mmmh... I love you too, I guess." Came the response of the white haired girl as she hugged her owner back. As she did, she couldn't hide the big smile.

  
  


"Shh, you'll lose your grumpy card, Weiss. But it's alright, I won't tell anyone." Ruby moved away from the hug and winked at the sitting girl.

  
  


Weiss in return poked her tongue at the girl, receiving another giggle, as Ruby moved towards the bedroom, reaching briefly to pet the other girl's hair and ears. "Finish up your food and we'll get you ready. I'll prepare your dress."

  
  


"Yes, yes." Weiss rolled her eyes and crunched into her toast. She enjoyed this sort of breakfast, although she wished it wasn't so early. She looked at the clock, and after brief deciphering it, reminding herself which of the clock hands indicated what, she decided it was 11 a.m at night!

  
  


Whatever her owner wanted to do, she better had a very good surprise for her, otherwise she will... She will pout and won't show that she enjoys being petted. That will show her, and perhaps will make her stop bothering her at such early hours.

  
  


Still she finished her toasts and drank some of her coffee, that did make her feel a tiny bit better. Still, she was a cat of her word, so if her owner wasn't having a very grand, special and deserving of her attention surprise, she would follow up on her cruel punishment.

  
  


Some humans forget who's the owner in their relationships. Weiss sighed at that and shook her head, deciding to move towards the bedroom.

  
  


"Weiss, you're done?" Ruby asked as she looked from over the clothes all displayed around the room. "I think I found what you'll wear for today." The redhead smiled broadly as she raised a simple white sundress

  
  


"A dress? What for?" The cat girl tilted her head curiously.

  
  


"You'll see, now let's get you ready and let's go." Ruby smiled as she invited her pet closer so she could start preparing her.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Two hours later they were at the doctor's office. Weiss didn't mind dressing up, it just showcased her grand status, although she wished that Ruby would dress more nicely, it gave her a bad reputation. Other cats could think she's a horrible master for her owner if she allows for Ruby to dress that way.

  
  


Still, Weiss couldn't help but to love her owner, and as such? She allowed for such things to let it slip. She was a cat of golden heart, for all it flaws, she didn't mind.

  
  


"So why are we here?" Weiss asked, she repeated the same question every fifteen minutes, and Ruby always answered the same way.

  
  


"You'll see in a moment, now patience." She grinned as she moved towards the doors to the doctor's office. "Hello? Yes, this is Ruby Rose, and I'm here for "that" for Weiss."

  
  


Weiss heard someone answer Ruby, and her owner nodded, before taking her hand and leading the catgirl further inside.

  
  


After a moment, the doctor came back through another door leading another cat faunus. He had a red jacket, dark blue eyes and light blue hair and...

  
  


"Neptune?" Weiss raised a brow as she saw the other faunus cat.

  
  


"Hey Weiss!" The cat boy grinned at her.

  
  


"Weiss? This will be your breeding partner! Are you happy? You'll be a mommy!" Ruby explained as she hugged the white haired catgirl.

  
  


"W-What?! W-With him?! No! Noo!"

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


"No!" Weiss sat straight up as she panted. She quickly reached with her hands towards her head, patting the top of it. No ears. She moved a hand to brush against her lower backside. No tail. She looked around, it was her small apartment, not some weird, big house.

  
  


"Mmmh? W-Weiss?" The Schnee heard the dog girl ask in a sleepy voice. The human girl looked at Ruby, she must have been curled up against her and once she got up so quickly, she had to wake up the poor girl.

  
  


"It's alright Ruby, I'm sorry." Weiss laid back down, hugging the dog girl against her once more. "I... I just had a nightmare, that's all. I'm sorry."

  
  


"O-Oh, that's alright." Ruby said as she nuzzled and once more curled against the human girl.

  
  


"You don't mind if I hug you, right? I... I could use something to calm myself." Weiss asked, as she moved her hand across the girl's hair.

  
  


"Mmm..." Came the dog girls response, as she was already half asleep. Weiss smiled at that and decided to do the same, hopefully with less weird dreams.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeaa... I know. Hopefully I won't annoy anyone with this. It's just a prank brah!
> 
> Anyway, I got this idea while working on my christmas stories, and I was like "I have to drop everything, and make this happen" because... Because I'm weird I guess.
> 
> Later I'll call it a "Bonus chapter 1" As I assume I might write more side things that could but don't need to relate to the main story. For example some scenes/chapters from Ruby's perspective! Or something. I'm not sure.


	9. Solution or more issues?

Weiss yawned as she opened her eyes. It wasn't the alarm clock that woke her up, which she considered strange, especially since she felt... Refreshed. Hopefully that wasn't due to her weird dreams.

  
  


She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her brain slowly activating each and every function it had, and for once it wasn't kickstarted by caffeine. One of these functions was awareness of her surrounding, as she felt the faunus girl cling to her side, her warm embrace and peaceful expression made her smile. She hoped that meant the girl wasn't tormented by any nightmares.

  
  


Weiss tilted her head to the side and looked at her alarm clock. Fifteen minutes before it rang, meaning that even if she wanted to, it was pointless to try and catch some additional sleep. This brought a question, should she wake up Ruby or let her sleep? And what would happen if she stayed alone in the house for the whole day. This was perhaps the first day of the rest of their lives, living in this new kind of situation.

  
  


Weiss groaned silently at that. She liked her previous routine, still she could form a new one. Hopefully it wouldn't end up being incredibly annoying. She moved the dog girl's arms away from herself, as she slowly raised, sitting on the edge of the bed. She reached to turn off the alarm clock in case it wakes the pup.

  
  


Sadly she failed, as the faunus girl opened her eyes and looked around, soon her gaze focused on Weiss. "Is it time to get up?" She asked, one of her ears flat against her head, as the other stood at attention. The Schnee couldn't help but wonder if this was the equivalent of a cowlick for dog ears.

  
  


"Yes and no, Ruby. You can sleep some more if you wish, but I'll have to go to classes in a bit." She smiled as she saw her other ear perk up at that.

  
  


"I'll get up with you." Ruby said as she sat up and attempted to fix her dress. Weiss couldn't help but tsk at that. If not new clothes, she should see if she can share some with the girl. New clothes costed, and any kind of funds should go towards paying for the adoption thing.

  
  


The human girl made a decision that there was no point in waiting for something to happen, and went with her normal routine. Coffee was her normal way of starting the day. She moved to the small kitchen corner and started making preparation.

  
  


It would be perfectly normal if not for the fact that Ruby was closely following her step for step. At first she tried to ignore that, deciding it's some quirk, like dog faunus are attached to people they spend time with or something like that. Still it was... Unsettling? And it wouldn't hurt to ask, right?

  
  


"Ruby? Are... Are you alright?" Weiss finally asked as she turned her attention to the other girl.

  
  


"I think so, why?" The pup girl seemed confused at her new owners question, as she tilted her head.

  
  


"While I don't mind, you just seem to... Follow me. If there's anything you wish to ask me, you can simply do that and ask." The Schnee smiled, not wanting to sound harsh or cold.

  
  


Ruby's ears have fallen flat against her skull. "It's just... Back home, I mean old home. Whenever we woke up, my previous owner always played radio. It had nice music and two man talking about weird things and making silly jokes. I wasn't always sure what they were talking about, but it was nice to just listen to them." The redhead looked to the side.

  
  


"And it's how I waited for breakfast." And the mention of the morning meal, her stomach rumbled quietly. "S-Speaking of which, what will you prepare for breakfast?" The dog girl's ears raised curiously as she looked at Weiss.

  
  


The human girl bit her lower lip. Breakfast, right. She had no leftovers, and not much in her fridge, since the last days were quite... Eventful. She took a deep breath. "I don't think we have anything food worthy right now." She looked at the fridge as she said that. Once her gaze was back on the redhead, she saw her ears lower slightly.

  
  


"O-Oh, so no breakfast?" She asked, and the Schnee couldn't help but to notice the hint of worry in the other girl's voice.

  
  


"No, no, of course I can make you something. I'll just quickly run to the store after I'm done with my coffee and take a shower." Weiss smiled.

  
  


"Oh, alright, how long will it take?" The dog girl inquired.

  
  


"Around an hour?" The Schnee sighed, and that's just the preparing part. Then there's going to the store, buying the things, going back, and actually preparing it.

  
  


Ruby grimaced a bit at that, something that lasted but a moment before once more she offered a soft smiled. "That's alright, I can wait. I don't want to be a bother more than I already have been."

  
  


At that point Weiss knew she couldn't just sit down and enjoy her coffee. Through the entire time she'd just have the image of hungry Ruby lingering in her mind. While motivating, it annoyed her for obvious reasons. Mostly because her coffee had to wait.

  
  


"It's okay Ruby, I'll just take a quick shower and head there right now." She smiled, and with heavy heart she reached towards the oven to turn off the kettle that was almost boiling.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


There were two states of mind, that people who weren't initiated into the inner circle of caffeine drinkers mistook for the same thing. It was time before coffee, and time in which the coffee need was neglected due to outside reasons.

  
  


The first wasn't that bad. It was usually moment before the coffee was made, like in the morning where you have some routine going on, you prepare yourself for the upcoming day and your fresh cup of blessing is being prepared, or has to cool down just enough so it won't burn a hole in your mouth. Since it would be a waste if you had a hole in your mouth due to all the coffee being spilled out of it. Really, the only reason you couldn't just drink boiling coffee was for that specific reason, it's true, anyone can check it in the caffeine manual.

  
  


Weiss was obviously in the latter state. As she entered the store, getting a warm greeting from the shopkeeper, who's smile died quickly once he saw the cold, death stare the Schnee girl sent his way. At that point it was clear for Weiss that while her mind didn't exactly require caffeine for starting up, her sympathy and empathy did.

  
  


She roamed the aisles of the small minimall, wondering what she should get. Cheese and ham sandwich sounded like a proper thing to make for breakfast. Now to make a quick list of what to get. Cheese, ham, bread and butter. Sounds easy enough. Maybe some tea, did she have tea? Might as well buy some in case she didn't. Once more she wanted to avoid seeing Ruby drink water to her breakfast. Unless she preferred it that way, she still wasn't sure what her daily quirks were like.

  
  


While looking for the things she needed, and picking between the options she had, her mind started to wander. How nice it would be if she could find a few man and form a band of barbarians to raid this stores like this. She then would line the people they would capture and tell them they can join her pillage or be beheaded. Soon she'd form an army and she would storm the capital, take over it and crown herself the queen.

  
  


Weiss chuckled at that. Clearly she was exaggerating, but she could either feel bad due to her body being neglected of the substance she was addicted to and just roll with that, or she could feel bad due to her body being neglected of the substance she was addicted to and go over the top with it for her own amusement.

  
  


There was one issue that emerged inside her head once she cheered herself up with her silly nonsense. What would Ruby do when Weiss was all day out being at the university and at her work. Entertainment was a secondary issue. What about food. She let out a tired sigh, all this focusing on the big things and she forgot to plan out the small issues. Well, she'll have to improvise at this point, no going around it.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


"I'm back." Weiss announced as she came back. In the past that was a little joke for herself, announcing she's back even though there was nobody waiting for her. Who knew one day she'd have someone waiting for her, and it wasn't a famous actor who'd she date or marry.

  
  


"Welcome back!" Came immediate response of the girl, as she raised from her previous position. Even from here she could see the tail waggle. It had to be true, that dog faunus didn't like solitude which made every reunion a blessing. Even if it was a twenty minute walk to a store and back.

  
  


"Hope you like ham and cheese, since it's the only thing I got." Weiss said as she moved once more towards the small kitchen corner. First things first, she setted up the kettle once more. She didn't care if Ruby was to be abducted by ninjas right now, there was a bomb in the room, or Yang came knocking on the door announcing she wanted to get a sex change operation. Nothing will stop her from getting her morning cup.

  
  


"What should I do when you're gone?" At that the human girl had to pause, as she slowly tilted her head to look at Ruby.

  
  


"What do you mean?" Did she want to do something while she was gone?

  
  


"I mean... Is there anything I could do when you're gone? I don't like being alone." The faunus girl's ears moved down a bit at her own words.

  
  


The Schnee sighed. "I don't know Ruby, I usually spend my time studying or doing things on my laptop."

  
  


"Oh... You don't have a radio then?" The redhead tilted her head with a hopeful expression, once Weiss shook her head, said expression went back to the sad one from before.

  
  


Weiss snapped her fingers suddenly. "I know, how about you go through my clothes and try them on? We might find something that fits you."

  
  


Ruby's mouth formed into a little o shape as she heard her owner's words, only to frown. "What if they don't fit me?"

  
  


At that Weiss tilted her head, not sure why she should get into such specifics. "Then you won't wear them?" The dog girl's reaction baffled the Schnee, as Ruby grow disappointed. "Did I say something wrong?"

  
  


"No, not really. But the hoodie from earlier doesn't fit, and I like it. But since it doesn't fit I won't be able to wear it." This straight form of logic made Weiss facepalm, although not without a smile accompanying the gesture.

  
  


"Very well, since you like it so much, you can wear it around the house. This actually solves the issue of your... Overused dress. But when I'm gone, you have permission to browse through the rest of the things. But please don't make a mess. At least store the clothes in one place after you've tried them on." Weiss sighed at that, she most likely just setted herself up for a lot of cleaning later. But this solves two potential issues for today.

  
  


"But first breakfast." She said as she moved to finish her apparently new morning routine within her small kitchen corner.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Weiss looked at a list that was filled with classes and room numbers attached to them. While it was rare for anything to change, she did have a few troubling situations due to it happening... The room number change that is. That alone made her check it each and every day she was having classes.

  
  


"Anything changed?" Yang's voice broke her concentration, as the Schnee looked over at the other girl. "Here, since you overdose on this, I thought I'd save you some time on getting it." The blonde said as she gave her a styrofoam cup.

  
  


Weiss squinted as she looked between the cup and the bigger girl. "Is it poisoned?"

  
  


"Only with my love." Yang grinned.

  
  


The Schnee grimaced at that. "Gross."

  
  


The blonde girl tilted her head for a moment, before realization hit her. "Oooh I see, only you could take this platonic confession and turn it around in the most cynical and perverted way." She wagged her finger at the smaller girl. "Naughty."

  
  


"As if it wasn't what you were alluring at." Weiss rolled her eyes, still the little exchange made her smile.

  
  


"I won't admit to nothing, it's all in your head." Yang nodded.

  
  


"To answer your question, no, everything is normal." Weiss thumbed towards the board with the classrooms.

  
  


"And what about your new life?" The blonde asked as they started to walk towards their destination.

  
  


"It'll take time before I get used to my new morning routine. Also there's a small issue of... Well, I'm not sure how to get home and prepare a meal for her, since normally I'd just grab a quick snack at the town and head to work after classes." Weiss signed, only to have an arm wrap around her shoulder.

  
  


"You can get off early from here, head home, make food and then head to work." Yang offered with a smile.

  
  


"Come on, I already skipped a lot, and you suggest I do it some more? You know that part of my income is dependant on having a scholarship." Weiss frowned at the suggestion.

  
  


"Well its either that or skipping work... Again as well. Weiss, come on, it'll take at least a month before your life adjusts for having your new pup." Yang nodded and continued. "Besides, I got your back. Don't think that I pressured you about your faunus only to abandon you when you're in a dire need for assistance. So everything important from the missed classes and lectures, I'll deliver to you before the exam session hits us." The blonde smiled.

  
  


Weiss smiled back. She was glad to have a friend like Yang. While this solution wasn't one she was happy about, it was one she had to settle for. "Alright."

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


"I'm back." Weiss announced, something she was slowly getting used to saying. She looked around the room to see two piles of clothes and Ruby between them as she fiddled with... Something.

  
  


"What are you doing?" Weiss approached the dog girl curiously. She was wearing the oversized Yang hoodie and was crouching in front of the bed, on top of which laid a single blouse.

  
  


The faunus girl's ears perked up as she looked over her shoulder, noticing Weiss she gasped and stood up, moving in front of the human girl and... Just standing there, smiling. The Schnee tilted her head, as she was a bit confused by it. She expected for the girl to hug her or... Anything, really. But all she did was just stand there in front of her. She finally smiled awkwardly deciding to ask. "Ruby? Why... What are you doing?"

  
  


"O-Oh." She blushed slightly, her happy smile turning into a sheepish one. "I usually hugged my previous owner when she came back." As if that was enough, she remained silent and just continued to stand there.

  
  


"Do you not want to hug me?" Weiss tilted her head. Was she disappointed by this possibility? It did feel strange to even wonder about it.

  
  


"N-No! No! I mean, yes, but Summer always extended her arms whenever she came back, she knew I would wait at her or run at her and you didn't, so I thought you didn't want me to hug you." Her ears moved down a bit.

  
  


"R-Right, of course... Uh, here." Weiss smiled as she extended her arms, a gesture Ruby responded to immediately as she almost tackled into her. The Schnee had to put one feet behind her to not fall over and to regain balance. She wrapped her own arms around the dog girl.

  
  


She had to keep herself from sighing, she didn't really like random physical intimacies with people, not anymore. Not after reevaluating her own life like she did. Yet, even she knew that dog faunus were clingy and if denied they could go sad, as if neglected. If only Ruby was a cat, these were less physical.

  
  


The girl let out an involuntary giggle as she felt the girl nuzzle against her, those dog ears brushing against her neck. This was different though, wasn't it? Perhaps this wouldn't be that bad. Hopefully. Ruby already clings to her whenever they sleep, plenty of opportunity to getting used to it.

  
  


"R-Right, I'm afraid I don't have much time. I just came to get you some food." Weiss gently pulled the girl away.

  
  


"Oh? What will you cook?" The dog girl looked up curiously at her.

  
  


"Erh... I don't really cook. I got us some microwave food." She patted her bag.

  
  


"Oh..." Came a disappointed response, as the faunus girl's ears once more went flat against her head.

  
  


"I'm sorry Ruby, I don't really cook." The dog girl's reaction made Weiss's cheery mood deflate a bit, as she rubbed the back of her head.

  
  


The dog girl offered a small smile. "That's alright, I'm sorry if I'm being picky."

  
  


"I'm sure you were used to great home cooking." Weiss reached out to pet the girl, her own smile coming back at that. "You didn't tell me what you were doing with that blouse."

  
  


"O-Oh, I was trying to fold it, but I don't know how you fold clothes, but I saw folded clothes so I tried to figure it out." She nodded as she explained her previous actions.

  
  


The Schnee blinked as she looked between the clothes and Ruby. "I see, here I'll show you. It's simple." She said as she moved around the dog girl and stood in front of the blouse. She pushed the piles of clothing to make enough space, as she spread the single article of clothing in front of herself.

  
  


"First you need to put it like this. Then you take each sleeve and you position it across, and then fold it inside like this. After that it's simple, you just fold the entire thing once or twice, and there, all folded nicely." The Schnee turned around to see the faunus girl stare intently at the process, as if she just explained quantum physics to the dog girl.

  
  


"But you'll practice when I'm gone, I don't have much time, and I still want to eat something before I have to go to work." She grasped Ruby's hand and pulled her towards the small kitchen area, the sudden half forced process of relocation broke the dog girl's concentration, as a new goal entered her mind, food.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


"Good afternoon." Weiss smiled politely as she entered the store she worked at. Her eyes didn't have to look long before they spotted the owner, who she began to approach. Once she was sure he noticed her, she bowed her head in a form of greeting.

  
  


"You're here, good." He threw keys at her, which she surprisingly managed to catch, considering how... Well, surprising that was to her. "Lock the door and come here." He requested.

  
  


Weiss felt a chill run down her spine, as she moved to fulfil said request. She tilted the card from OPEN to CLOSED.

  
  


She knew that this day would end in a disaster, as if she needed more trouble in her basket. She sighed as she slowly turned around and approached the man.

  
  


The man in question was big, and that wasn't just a vague generalization. He was a tall man, with broad shoulders and a big beer belly. Even his hands were enormous, and Weiss felt like he could crush her head with just one of them without an issues.

  
  


He had a short beard, brown in color with the tips turning a darker shade of red. He was balding, with a nest of hair around the bald spot that went from his forehead to the center of his head. His face had an austere appearance. With his face wrinkled, big bulbous nose and deeply set brown eyes.

  
  


It was actually Yang who gave a very neat summarization of how he looked like, after seeing him for the first time when she visited her at the workplace. She considered him to look like a dwarf, if he wasn't so tall. A viking perhaps.

  
  


Yet he was a businessman, not a big one, i terms of how big his business was that is, but he owned a few properties in the city. Which brought to mind the way he dressed, Weiss almost always saw him wearing a red checkered shirt and blue, worn out blue jeans and brown leather shoes.

  
  


After a few steps Weiss stood in front of the counter, behind which sat the man, his stern look eyeing her, and while she was used to it, that still made her feel uncomfortable. "Now explain your absence." The man frowned.

  
  


Weiss knew this would happen. Well, not in this manner, but that her boss would ask what was the issue. She took a deep breath.

  
  


...

  
  


"...And that's it." The Schnee finished her story. She wasn't sure what the man before her thought, as he always kept his frown and a thoughtful expression.

  
  


"Your friend proposed that you ask me for a loan?" He asked, and Weiss wasn't sure if it was her imagination or was he sounding as if he was being insulted.

  
  


"Y-Yes." She nodded.

  
  


"Well tell your friend I'm not giving out loans, I believe in hard work, and if you want something, you have to work hard for it." He shook his head, and Weiss looked to the side. Deep down she hoped that this could work and solve her problem.

  
  


Weiss couldn't help but sight softly, she was out of ideas really. She could pawn something from her home, but what was so expensive that she could go around without.

  
  


Being deep in her thoughts she didn't notice that the man got up and now stood next to her, his arms crossed. "This brings us to our second topic that I wanted to discuss with you."

  
  


Weiss had to look up, she felt so small next to this giant of a man, especially with his intimidating way of being. She gulped. "What... What did you want to discuss with me, sir?"

  
  


He suddenly slammed his hand against the counter, a gesture so sudden, that when combined with the loud noise made the Schnee wince and close her eyes. Once she opened them again, she saw two bills laying on top of it. "Your one time raise for the job I asked you to do last weekend." He announced in a cold tone of voice.

  
  


Weiss looked at the bills, it was exactly how much she needed, and it didn't take long before it clicked inside her brain. "N-No, I... I can't." She shook her head. This was charity, and she wouldn't do charity. No longer did she take money from someone because she had pretty eyes or was a damsel in distress. Or a daughter of a rich man

  
  


"You're refusing to take it?" The man raised his brow. "In that case I have to fire you."

  
  


"W-What?!" Weiss couldn't help but shout in surprise, which didn't really affect the man, as he stood in the same way he did previously, with the exact same expression. "What for?! What did I do?" The Schnee felt panic building up inside of her, and that clouded her mind to the reasoning behind the man's words.

  
  


"If you're refusing to accept the payment for your work, that means you're working for free. If there was some kind of financial control, I could get sued and would have to pay big bucks to avoid getting thrown to jail." He explained calmly.

  
  


Weiss reached out to take the two bills into her hand, she looked between it and her boss.

  
  


"Good." He commented as he saw that the Schnee took the money and started to walk towards the main entrance to the store. "Now I don't care if you buy a cat or a dog or even start a pig farm, I'm not funding your hobby. I'm paying you for your hard work."

  
  


He reached for the keys and opened the door. "Now get out." He frowned.

  
  


Weiss looked at the door terrified, was she in the end being fired after all?

  
  


"You're being sad, and that decreases your productivity by eighty percent, so you're better off having this day off." He explained and looked at the clock. "Also the administration building is opened for two more hours."

  
  


Weiss wasn't sure what he meant at first, but soon her eyes opened wide, and after that a smile crossed her lips. She grasped the money as if afraid that it could fly off from her hands. "Thank you sir."

  
  


"Just go." He said as he sent her another stern look, but for whatever reason this time Weiss wasn't really bothered by it, as she smiled cheerfully at the man. As she was moving, something caught her eye as she grabbed it. "C-Could I... Could I take this? You can um cut my next pay."

  
  


"You have five seconds to disappear." He announced coldly, to which the Schnee smiled sheepishly as she took the packaged object and run off into the street.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Weiss first idea was to ran to the administration building on foot, an idea that after a moment of running was discarded.

  
  


She couldn't believe her luck and while she still felt uncertain about it, she could always blame on being blackmailed into taking the money. Whatever it was, be it her hard work, or the man wanting to help her, she had no choice but to accept. While helpful, she knew the man was prideful enough to go with his word of firing her.

  
  


That wasn't important right now, as Weiss felt like this was the happiest day in her life.

  
  


She suddenly stopped. Happiest? Did she really was this happy about this? She looked at the box she grabbed from the store, a small standing radio, something that Ruby asked her about. Why was this the happiest day? Why was she even happy?\

  
  


Was it an exaggeration on her part, like people claim that something is the best or the worst, and such claim appears at least twice a day.

  
  


Also why was she feeling happy? Because she was relieved due to not having to deal with the issue of Ruby getting into the pound? Or was there something else... And if so, what was it?

  
  


She shook her head and began to walk towards the bus stop. This wasn't the place or time to think about this. She could finally do something about her current issue, and she wouldn't allow for even a day of delay more.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Weiss knocked on the door, hearing a muffled "enter" she did just that. "Hello." She smiled as she saw... Well, a stereotypical clerk woman behind the desk. Round in shape, wearing glasses and looking like that one aunt that always wants to kiss you at every family party, and who thinks pinching your cheek off is the next best thing since sliced bread.

  
  


"I'm here for..." Weiss started, but was immediately interrupted by the woman.

  
  


"Do you have an application?"

  
  


"N-No, but you didn't even..."

  
  


"Room two hundred and seven, fourth floor. Application number 34c." The woman behind the desk dryly explained, and went back to her computer.

  
  


Weiss wasn't sure for a second what to do, but since the woman acted as if she no longer existed, she exited the room. Fourth floor? And no elevator, of course. She sighed as she went towards the stairs and started climbing them.

  
  


Weiss wasn't the most athletic person, she liked to think of herself as an intellectual. Intelectual that had an issues with stairs, as she gasped once she reached the fourth floor. Giving herself a moment to catch her breath, she began looking for room two hundred and seven.

  
  


Once she found the doors with that number on it, she knocked, again she heard "enter" yet this time it was a man. "Hello." She put on her polite smile. "I'm here for application 34c."

  
  


"On the shelf." The man explained not even looking up at her.

  
  


Weiss shrugged, not surprised anymore by the behaviour of the working folks here. She looked at the shelf and started looking for the number and letter. There were a lot of application forms, as Weiss saw the number fifty, and then they had letters attached to that. Hopefully that were more complicated things than requesting adoption permission.

  
  


Soon she found what she was looking for, and the discovery made her almost facepalm, only the presence of the man stopping her from doing so. Outside of her signature, date and some administration information, there was place for one or two sentence to write in the purpose of why she came here. Something she could just say in less than five seconds.

  
  


She took a breath to calm herself. She took a pen out of her bag and began to clumsy fill it out, the paper being pressed against the wall. Once done, she exited the room, not bothering to even say anything to the man inside, as he most likely wouldn't even notice her.

  
  


Trip down was easier, although still annoying, it took her less time and less energy was spent, as such she didn't need a moment like before. She knocked on the same door she did when she initially came to this place, once more hearing allowance to enter. "Hello, I have the application 34c." Weiss once more smiled in a polite manner. There was no reason to make this harder because she was annoyed.

  
  


The Schnee approached the woman and placed the piece of paper on the desk. The clerk glanced over it, and reached for a stamp, as she apparently marked the application as approved. "Faunus matters are in room two hundred and eighty, fourth floor." She explained.

  
  


Weiss took the paper and hid her face inside her hands. This was so stupid.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Weiss entered the room, once more smiling politely. "Hello." She was surprised to see a young man behind the desk. He had short blond hair and blue eyes, he had to be around her age, or not that much older then herself. Even more surprising was the fact that he was looking at her and smiling. It was the same type of smile she had, but still, a smile was a smile.

  
  


"Good day, what brings you here miss? Please, have a sit." He invited her as he hand gestured at the chair on the opposite side of the desk.

  
  


Weiss approached the desk and placed the approved application on top of the desk. The man looked at it and nodded. "Did you bring the form?"

  
  


The Schnee sighed, only way to keep herself from groaning. "No, which one should I get?" She asked, no longer being able to hide the weariness of her voice.

  
  


"Are you applying for the temporary allowance, permanent or both?" The man looked between his computer screen and the Schnee.

  
  


"I... I guess both." She nodded. "So which one should I get?" Weiss asked, ready to get up from her chair.

  
  


"That's alright, I'll print it out." He raised his hand to stop her from standing up.

  
  


"R-Really?" She blurted out, stunned at the fact she didn't had to run around through hops for a stupid piece of paper.

  
  


"Yes, here you go. Fill it out miss and we'll begin the process." He placed the two pieces of paper in front of Weiss with a pen on top.

  
  


Weiss nodded and looked over the form. It had her informations on the first page and looking at the second page, Ruby's information. She bit her lower lip, this might proven to be difficult, if not impossible for her. While focusing on the money part, she never really got any information out of Ruby, official informations at least.

  
  


"Excuse me but... What if I won't be able to fill out some of those, especially concerning Ru- my faunus." She looked up at the man.

  
  


"Officially I should say that you can leave those empty, but that might proven to be difficult later for you. Privately I recommend you write something, anything. This form is for the temporary registration with permanent allowance request, meaning that once you get approved, you'll have to fill out a permanent one. Luckily nobody really checks, and even if? You can always say that your faunus lied because they wanted to get adopted very badly. People usually shrug it off." He explained slowly, and his words made Weiss sigh in relief.

  
  


"Thank you." She smiled and went back to filling out the form.

  
  


It was a pretty basic thing really. No tricky questions. Although she did stop at the name part. Faunus didn't really have family name that they belonged to. Sure, some folks apparently liked to include that, but it was unofficial.

  
  


"Excuse me, if I can ask one more question, how many names am I allowed to write in?" She peered at the man, her worries once more getting the better of her as she got afraid her constant barrage of questions might break the helpful facade of the man.

  
  


But he didn't seem to be bothered by that. "As many as you can squeeze in there, miss. It's not really important for the officials. Your faunus will get an identification code, and whenever some kind of issue will arise, the faunus will be identified from that. Otherwise it would be quite an issue since plenty of folks call their faunus the same name."

  
  


"I see, thank you." She smiled and peered down at the paper. She took a deep breath and started to write "Ruby Rose". There was no reason to strip her of her past, besides if the man said the truth, it was mostly symbolic.

  
  


"Here, I think I've done everything as instructed." She handed the documents to the man. He peered through them, nodding a few times.

  
  


"Great, I'll put it in, print the registration papers out and stamp them. Up to five days you should receive a chip in your mail, till then you can use the registration papers if anyone will want to see the permission for having a faunus." He explained and focused on his computer screen.

  
  


Weiss smiled at that, and since she had nothing else to do she started to look around the office. Although her exploration didn't last long. "Did you have any experience with owning a faunus before, miss?"

  
  


The Schnee gulped at that. "Would it be an issue if i haven't?" While it might give him the answer, it wasn't like she admitted to anything, and he seemed to be helpful so far, so perhaps he could make it clear for her if being open about that sort of thing provided to be problematic for her in the future.

  
  


"Not really, I simply ask because I can provide you with some basic informations that you should know, as well as handing you a pamphlet. We know that those are useless for people who already had experience in owning a faunus, and it's a waste since they throw it out anyway."

  
  


"I see, it's my first time owning a faunus." Weiss admitted openly, while she was convinced that the man wanted to help her, she still deep down felt as if this was a bad thing to do.

  
  


"In that case I recommend you taking your pet for some shopping. You need to get something to put the chip in. I say something, because while collars are popular, they aren't required. Bracelet, pendant, anything that's specifically designed for that purpose. Collars are the most popular because they are safe. Least chance of your faunus losing it or getting it stolen." He spoke slowly as he typed in the information from the filled out form. Weiss had to admit, she was impressed with the multitasking ability of this young clerk.

  
  


"That's the most dire thing you should do. Rest is in the pamphlet I'll hand you in a moment. Also don't be afraid to ask people who will work at any store with faunus specific things. Those are people who can help you and provide you with information. We often get the pettiest requests, and while we're happy to help, if they pile up, we simply can't answer them all, especially if some of them are of dire nature yet are buried under the less important ones." With that he clicked a few things with his mouse, and the sound of printing echoed inside the room once more.

  
  


"And done, there you go miss." He smiled as he handled her a stack of 4 papers and the pamphlet. "Room two on the first floor is where you can pay the fee... You are aware of the fee, correct?" The man raised a brow.

  
  


"Yes, yes of course. Thank you for your help." Weiss smiled as she began to stand up.

  
  


"It was a pleasure miss, I wish you a nice day."

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


"Ruby I did it!" Weiss bursted into her own apartment like the kool-aid man. Luckly it was through the door, and she opened them before, so no permanent structural damage was done to her own living place.

  
  


The dog girl appeared next to her with a smile, although not as big, seemingly intimidated by the overly cheerful behaviour. "You did it?" She tilted her head.

  
  


"Yes! Look!" Weiss pushed the registration papers to the faunus girl's hands.

  
  


She peered at it "Oooh You did it!" She announced cheerfully.

  
  


"That's right!" Weiss grinned and pulled the other girl into a tight hug.

  
  


Ruby was more than happy to hug the Schnee back. "Weiss?"

  
  


"Yes, Ruby?" Weiss inquired with a smile.

  
  


"What did you do?" The dog girl asked, her confusion now showing as the cheerful mask was off.

  
  


"What... Do you mean?" She raised a brow at her question.

  
  


"Well I can't read so..."

  
  


Weiss facepalmed at that, right, she forgot. "I registered you, which means you won't go to the pound and you can legally stay here." The Schnee smiled, a smile that grew bigger once she saw the thought process written on the dog girl's face.

  
  


It went from confusion, to understanding, and finally hit the happy mark. Which also hit Weiss, as the faunus girl tackled her new owner. "T-That's great! Thank you!"

  
  


Weiss had no chance in withstanding the power of a happy Ruby, and as such she had collapsed onto her butt, with the dog girl clinging to her. She smiled, as her own arms kept the dog girl tightly in her own embrace.

  
  


Although deep down she couldn't help but wonder, what the future would bring to them.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Weiss was laying in the bed waiting for Ruby to get out of the bathroom. She couldn't wait for the upcoming sleep, no more worries, at least for tonight. Whatever tomorrow brings, she'll have to deal with it tomorrow. Tonight was time to rest.

  
  


"I'm done" Ruby said as she exited the small room.

  
  


"Are you sure that the hoodie is comfortable? For sleeping that is. I'm sure we can find you something... Different." Weiss tilted her head, not sure if Ruby liked it or it was some weird quirk that it was the first thing she gave her so she will cling to it. Something along these symbolic lines at least.

  
  


"I like it, it's a bit big but it's nice." She said as she raised her arms.

  
  


That action made Weiss blink. Did she...

  
  


Ruby moved towards the bed, claiming her spot next to Weiss, something that the Schnee got used to. Perhaps now she could learn about the girl some more, since she didn't have to worry about being put into a pound.

  
  


Still, did she saw it correctly? "Ruby? Are... Are you not wearing anything under that?" She gulped at her own question.

  
  


"Mmm?" Ruby yawned. "Oh, no, not really. You don't have any underwear that fitted, and human underwear is uncomfortable." She explained as she clinged to her new owner.

  
  


Her stiff owner, as that realization and confirmation, made the girl grow tense. Also blush mad red. She didn't know why, she still had the hoodie. Yet something about the girl not wearing anything underneath that made her... Feel this way.

  
  


Underwear. Tomorrow they have to shop for underwear. Once more her night was going to be not as relaxing as Weiss hoped for it to be.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter, considering it's holiday season and all that jazz.
> 
> So a few things about this chapter. I hope nobody will get annoyed at the coffee thing I like to hammer. It's a little meta-joke for my own amusement. If you figured it out? More power to you, if not? Well you'll have to bear with me.
> 
> The store owner and Weiss's boss is based off my friend. I doubt he reads this and even if ? I doubt he'll know I was referring to him hah.
> 
> Lastly, the last scene was there for me. It's not really supposed to be perverted, but... Well, funny I guess. Also serves a small purpose story wise so hence why I decided to put it in.
> 
> Now some things in regards for overall story. First I have to admit I failed with something important, and it has been eating me for quite some time.
> 
> Weiss has a scar, and only after some time did I figure that I could have made it an excellent point in this story. Her being afraid of faunus and reluctant to keep Ruby, because she was scared by a faunus when she was younger. Sadly that ship has sailed so, all I have is regrets that I didn't think of it sigh... Oh well, it is what it is.
> 
> Second thing is that I have no idea what will happen next. I have some plans, but I'll have to figure them out and plan them out so I won't make a mess. If I get a bit slower with updates, that's the reason.
> 
> Third thing is, some people might roll their eyes that I'm no longer writing Ruby as being in some kind of sad mood. I'm aware that people normally take longer to get past such situation like death of a close relative or something. But I did it on purpose, mainly because i don't want to write a depressed Ruby. I can promise you, that there will be times where Ruby will be sad over her past and all that, but everyday I think it would be better if she acted... normally. It isn't supposed to be a depressing story.
> 
> Third and a half thing is Ruby's mood shifts. I might do that where she goes from being sad to happy on a whim, and most of the times it's really a silly thing and is made just for that, for silliness and ... Comedic effect, if you can call any of my lame attempts at jokes and stuff as comedy. In more dire or serious situations I promise I won't write her as some emotional ADHD kid on a sugar craze.
> 
> And now some general stuff! I hope you guys had great christmas/holidays/whatever! And I hope you'll have a great and happy new year!
> 
> I failed with my little "christmas fic" stories, as I managed to put out 2 out of 6 stories. But deep down I knew I would fail. Still I did it. Some time ago I posted an open question about deadlines and posting stuff once a week or once a specific time period. And while I got mixed opinions I decided to see how it would be if I worked with a deadline.
> 
> Sure I got myself a big challange, six stories in a certain theme is quite a lot, but I wanted to see how many I could write.
> 
> And I'll be honest, it felt horrible. I Felt pressured and I always felt like I had to do something, I couldn't really relax and whenever I did something for fun, this lingering feeling kept creeping up on me. Meaning that I can't really do this with some kind of promise that I'll update/post new stuff on some specific time periods.
> 
> That's enough of a rant from me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please do share your opinion on it in a review/comment! I love to read all the worries, ideas, praises and complaints, as it helps me out quite a bit with my writing and motivates me to write more. Can't wait to read what you thought about this chapter!


	10. Bonus 2

Weiss felt something tugging at her sleeve, she wasn't sure what it was, but she felt too tired to really care. Then after the tugs came the slow shakes. Still it wasn't annoying or disturbing enough for her to really react to it, the idea of sleeping was too nice at the moment. Finally came the voice, and that got her attention.

  
  


"W-Weiss, Weiss... Weiss, wake up." It was Ruby's voice, and that alone made the Schnee force herself to open her eyes, looking briefly around her surroundings. While living in the city things never were truly dark, and she could spot everything inside the room, especially since her eyes were currently attuned to the darkness surrounding them.

  
  


She sighed as she sat up. "What is it Ru-" Her words were interrupted as she was pushed back against the bed. Not just pushed, pinned to it. She winced and closed her eyes for a brief moment as that happened, once open again, she saw Ruby looming over her.

  
  


"R-Ruby what are you doing." The human girl tried to free herself, at first gently, hoping that the sign of being uncomfortable would make the faunus girl let go, but that didn't happen. Soon she began to struggle to try and free herself from the dog girl's grasp, but she held her surprisingly strong. Were all faunus this strong?

  
  


The girl above her panted, and Weiss for some reason could clearly see that her face was red. "I need help, your help with something." The faunus girl whined out as if in pain.

  
  


That made the Schnee shiver for some reason. This entire thing was starting to get weird, was this normal? Should she be worried about Ruby? Was she sick? "W-What is it Ruby? How can I help?"

  
  


Ruby leaned slowly down, till her face was next to Weiss's "It's full moon and I need your body." She said quietly. At that the Schnee's eyes went wide. Her body? At first she had a horrifying idea that she was about to be eaten. Only for her brain to asses the image before her.

  
  


The dog girl was on top of her on all fours, and as she leaned forward with her torso, her rump remained in the air, the tail wagging and... And her hoodie rolling up her body, exposing her entirely from tummy down.

  
  


She wasn't going to be eaten, this was worse... Was Ruby in heat? Could faunus even be in heat? Also full moon? Would this happen frequently over the month? "R-Ruby we can't." Weiss tried to struggle some more, but once more she felt that she couldn't overpower the girl. While she seemed fragile, she still had more strength than her.

  
  


"But I need it, Weiss, please. It's burning so much." The dog girl licked along her ear and as she kept going, soon her tongue trailed along her jawline. Soon she felt her lips against her neck, the girl niped and licked against it. Each and every time sending a shiver down Weiss's spine.

  
  


"No, let go of me! Ruby! This is wrong. Let me call for help." The Schnee was growing desperate at that point. This was going too far, and it was going too far quickly.

  
  


The dog girl raised herself and frowned. "No! I don't want anyone's help but yours." She then began to slowly lower herself. Weiss's eyes went wide once more. She knew what was coming, but she was powerless to stop it.

  
  


Soon she felt Ruby's nose brush against her own. She couldn't do anything to stop it, and she decided to just accept it and go with it. She parted her lips, waiting for the faunus girl to press her own against hers. She closed her eyes awaiting the first contact.

  
  


oooOOOooo

  
  


Weiss opened her eyes and sat down. She pat herself, as if looking if she didn't have anyone on top of herself, then her head quickly turned to look at Ruby. The dog girl curled up against the spot the Schnee was laying at just a moment ago, sleeping.

  
  


She covered her face with her hands as she breathed heavily. These dreams had to stop. She gulped and felt her throat dry. She moved her legs over the edge and sat on the bed, her brain slowly processing the situation.

  
  


This situation was starting to get sticky... And that wasn't just a metaphor. She groaned to herself as she stood up and moved towards the kitchen part of her apartment. She reached for the closest glass and poured herself some sink water. This was better than nothing.

  
  


As the water poured into the glass, she started to think about the dream. Was it because she was embarrassed? Or was it because she saw that one thing before bed. Was she growing crazy. So many question, so little answers. She just hoped these dreams would end.

  
  


She blinked as she saw her glass, which was already quite big, started to overflow with water. She didn't notice after the memory of her dream started to occupy her mind. She turned off the faucet and took a sip of water.

  
  


Great, now she had to calm herself down. She looked at the glass in her hand, and without a second thought she leaned over the kitchen sink and poured the entire content of it over her head. She stayed in that position waiting for the water to pour down her hair and face.

  
  


"Weiss? What... What are you doing?" She heard Ruby's voice, she tilted herself to the side to see the dog girl rub her eyes as she sat on the bed.

  
  


"Im washing my hair." The Schnee answered in a serious tone of voice, she was annoyed and sarcasm was always a good tool in moments like this.

  
  


"O-Oh..." Came a confused reply from the dog girl.

  
  


"Go to sleep Ruby, I'll be back in bed in a moment." The Schnee said as she slowly straighten up and started to move towards the bathroom. In hindsight this wasn't perhaps the smartest thing to do. Her hair will hate her for this in the morning.

  
  


"Alright." She saw the faunus move back to her lying position and close her eyes, Weiss went inside the bathroom and reached for the nearest towel to dry her hair as best as she could considering the circumstances.

  
  


At least it helped with all the steam in her head. She looked at the shower, considering a cold one, before shaking her head. Too much of a hassle, unless a similar dream happens tonight. Then she might consider.

  
  


As she went back to bed and laid her head on the pillow, she couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh. Hopefully the gods of dreams or what not were done with playing jokes on her. She closed her eyes, and the weariness quickly caught up to her as she fell back into slumber.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I know I should go with the story properly and not write these pointless bonus thingies. And yes this is a bonus chapter, I'll change it's name after I upload the next proper chapter.
> 
> To my defense I woke up in the middle of the night, and had this idea, since I was too tired to write anything proper I decided to just write this one. Hopefully it'll amuse some people. It was fun to write it.
> 
> If anyone complains about Ruby being very ooc in this, I'll remind them this was a dream in which she was all... Full moony. Hopefully everyone understood that, but just in case I'll leave this here so people know.
> 
> So did anyone got worried over the chapter name? (In case you read this and the chapter name is bonus 2, the original chapter name was "Sick Ruby")


	11. Calendar

_Weiss Weiss Weiss Wei- Ompf!_

 

Weiss groaned as she slammed her alarm clock. The night filled with weird dreams and her having to deal with it had cut some time off of her rest. This was the second time such situation occurred and if it continues to go that route, she'll have to seriously consider talking to someone...

 

...Wait, since when did her alarm clock call her name, and grunt in pain for that matter? This required further research.

 

With that she opened her eyes, only to see Ruby with a pained grimace, holding the top of her head. Her brain started to process math equation on some quantum physics level before it delivered the conclusion of this situation.

 

"Oh no! Ruby! I'm so sorry!" Her grogginess was immediately gone, as she sat up and pulled the dog girl into a tight hug, one of her hands moving on top of the girl's head and rubbed it gently. "Are you alright?"

 

She felt the girl nod. "Yes. I just thought I'd wake you up since you turned off your alarm and just continued to sleep." Guilt, she heard guilt in the dog girl's voice, and it made her feel even worse. What a horrible way to start a day.

 

"No Ruby, you did great. I'm sorry, I just mistook you for my alarm clock." She moved the girl away and grasped her cheeks to look at her face. "You did good, alright? You're a good girl." She smiled at her.

 

Weiss was never sure what made the other girl cheer up. The reassuring words, the praise or the physical contact. Perhaps all of these combined. But in the end the most important thing was that Ruby smiled and nodded once more. "Alright, I just thought I did something bad."

 

"Even if you did something bad, I wouldn't hit you, you silly girl. Now let's move on with our day." She nodded and released the girl from her arms, as she sat on the edge of the bed, stretching. This day barely started and was already filled with misadventures.

 

She put her feet inside her panda slippers and got up, deciding on the next thing to do. Hair, she needs to fix her hair. This could take a bit longer than usual. Which brought her attention to the faunus girl.

 

"Ruby? Are you hungry?" She turned her attention towards the girl who was just sitting on the bed, not really having anything else to do.

 

"Yes." She immediately answered with a smile, although her expression immediately shifted to that of concern. "No." She added after a few seconds. "Maybe?" Now the worry mixed with confusion on her face. "S-Should I be hungry?" She finally asked.

 

Weiss rolled her eyes, not without a smile though. "If you're hungry, I'll make you breakfast now. If you're not, I'll go take care of my hair first and later make you something to eat. Neither is an issue, I just need to know."

 

"Didn't you wash your hair last night?" The dog girl blinked, tilting her head curiously to the side.

 

The Schnee cleared her throat. "R-Right, anyway, it's an uh... Two step process. So breakfast now or later?" She focused her gaze on the girl.

 

"Umh... Later is fine, you can go take care of your hair." The dog girl nodded.

 

"Alright, feel free to..." Weiss paused. What was Ruby to do?

 

And then she remembered.

 

She grinned and clasped her hands, that brought the redhead's attention to her as she tilted her head curious of why her owner did something like that out of nowhere.

 

"I actually have something for you." She grinned, and her words made Ruby's ears perk up, as her tail wagged at the prospect of a gift.

 

"Something for me?" The dog girl asked, her curiosity shining bright through her silver eyes.

 

"Mhm." Weiss nodded as she went towards her bag. There she extracted the box from her bag and moved to place it on Ruby's lap. "Here, this is for you. Although I assume it'll be a gift to our household, I got it with you in mind."

 

"A box?" The redhead asked as she looked between it and her owner.

 

"...Yes, but the gift inside of the box." Weiss tilted her head confused.

 

"Can I open it?" Came another question, to which Weiss had to keep herself from facepalming or rolling her eyes. Patience was required, although the overly politeness was... Bothersome. Still, that meant she was raised properly at least.

 

"Of course, if I ever hand you a box, and say it's a gift, you may open it to get to the content in any means necessary as long as you won't destroy the content nor hurt yourself, alright?" Instead she decide to smile, as she explained carefully.

 

"Alright!" The girl nodded happily and started unboxing her gift. Once she got to the content she gasped. "It's a radio!"

 

Weiss blinked at that. "Well... Yes, why are you surprised? It was on the picture on the box." She pointed at said box.

 

"...I... I don't trust pictures on anything anymore." The girl admitted as her ears fallen flat against her head and the tail wagging has stopped.

 

"I... Why?" The human girl couldn't help but ask.

 

"Strawberry soap doesn't taste like strawberry even if it has strawberry picture on it." She frowned, a hurtful expression on her face, to which Weiss was wondering if the girl felt betrayed by whoever made said soap.

 

That of course, while it had to be awful for the girl, made Weiss smile, as she turned away from the girl to avoid her seeing that. "R-Right!" She cleared her throat. "I'll go take care of my hair now"

 

Just as expected, her normal shower time took a bit more. It didn't have to, of course, but it was required for her to not scare people off with her presence. Or make Yang poke fun at her, or worse, worry about her.

 

Once she was done though, she exited the bathroom with a smile, only to discover something odd. Well, the discovery came a bit sooner even before she was able to leave the small room. There was no sound, she expected for Ruby to play the radio that she gave her. Which meant that she either didn't know how to turn it on, or the thing was broken.

 

Yet that wasn't the case. Once she left the bathroom she saw the dog girl sitting there as she left her, with the radio now unboxed on the lap. Weiss raised a brow at that. "Ruby? Why didn't you turn it on?"

 

"Because you have to plug it in" She raised the cable in her hand.

 

Weiss sighed. "Alright, different question, why didn't you plug it in?"

 

"Because I was told not to play around electrical sockets since I could get hurt." She nodded.

 

This was understandable, and if she was to be honest? Appropriate. She preferred to deal with Ruby being a well behaved faunus that waited for everything, then dealing with her potentially getting hurt. Still she had to find a way to make her a tiny bit more self dependant.

 

"Right, can I?" She approached the dog girl and reached towards the radio. Ruby released it from her grasp, allowing her to take it. She looked around for a good spot to place it. The cable wasn't too long, but it should be enough if this music box was standing close.

 

She moved around the bed and placed it on the nightstand on Ruby's side of bed. Although just that thought made her pause. She raised her head to look between the dog girl and the bed. In a way this was her side of the bed, since it's always the one she slept on since she got here. She sighed and shook her head. It was scary how fast she was adapting to this crazy new situation.

 

She placed the radio on the empty nightstand and leaned down to plug the thing in. She extended the antena and looked at the box. It was a simple black radio with an autoscan function to search for the nearest radio stations, a knob for volume and a silver, what she assumed aluminium retractable antenna. Nothing too fancy, but should be enough.

 

"There we go, do you know how to use it?" Weiss stood up and focused her eyes on Ruby.

 

The girl nodded. "You turn the knob to find the radio station."

 

"Not in this one. This finds radio stations by itself. You just press the button. The knob is for volume, so try not to play with that too much, and don't try to rotate the button. Just push it to find a different station, or press the smaller button to reset it in case you want some previous station." Weiss pointed in the vague direction of each of the buttons and the knob as she explained.

 

To believe she didn't yet bless herself with caffeine. "Anyway, feel free to play with it and I'll prepare our breakfast."

 

This already cut too much time from her morning coffee time. If there even will be morning coffee time anymore.

 

oooOOOooo

 

One cup of coffee and prepared breakfast and morning filled with various random radio stations being heard later, Weiss arrived at her university. Deciding to once more look at the listing of her classes and lectures, together with the list of room numbers to make sure she wouldn't go to the wrong place and be late due to that.

 

"Wasn't able to finish your morning cup?" Yang's voice brought her back to the real world, as she moved her attention away from the board and focused on the blonde girl.

 

"Adjusting to my new mornings." She shrugged. "Speaking of which, no sacrifice this morning?" She raised a brow as she saw the blonde not holding any kind of cup in her hands.

 

"Huh? Am I to buy you coffee each and every morning from now on?" It was Yang's moment to raise her brow.

 

"Might as well, you got me into this mess." Weiss nodded as she moved past the blonde, who followed after.

 

"Well if I knew I'd be obligated to pour caffeine down your throat, I'd rethink that." She had to keep herself from smiling, she had to play her role of being dead serious about this.

 

"Too late now, since you signed the papers and everything." She stopped next to the coffee machine, or drink machine, since it served other types of hot beverages. Although none interested her more then coffee right now.

 

"I didn't sign nothing." Came a rebellious response from her friend.

 

"Well I have the documents at home, and it was clearly signed by you, Yang Brute." Weiss nodded as she waited for the machine to pour the awful quality drink.

 

"That's forgery for one, second, that's not my name." Yang squinted her eyes at the smaller girl.

 

"Might as well be." She answered with a cocky grin.

 

At least some things didn't change, and god bless them for it. Even she couldn't handle too much change, at least at once.

 

oooOOOooo

 

"How's your pup doing? Happy that you managed to register her properly?" Yang's sudden question required extra processing power inside Weiss's brain, as she had to catch up with what the blonde meant.

 

"Oh, she's... Alright. Although she could use to be a bit more self dependant." She shrugged.

 

"Really? Most owners claim that when they get their new faunus, or they grow up to a certain age, they could use a bit less of that." The blonde snickered.

 

"Yes, well, Ruby always waits for everything, since she was taught by the previous owner that she shouldn't do plenty of things due to it being dangerous." She sighed softly.

 

"That doesn't sound that bad, the alternative could be worse you know." Yang pointed out, to which the white haired girl couldn't help but nod.

 

"True, but still." She looked into her cup. Talks like these were always awful. Not because she hated talking about such subjects, but it always slowed down her coffee drinking, and while she tolerated the black goo that the machine spewed, it was best drank as hot as possible, before the flavour is too noticeable.

 

"While I can't say for sure, but it sounds like her last owner treated her like a child." Yang's comment made the Schnee tilt her head.

 

"Child?" She asked out, hoping the other girl would follow up on that.

 

"Yeah, since she was alone with her, a woman, not sure about her age. Still, sounds like someone who couldn't or didn't want to have children, so they substituted for a faunus. Happens often enough so that folks are aware of such things happening." Yang nodded at that.

 

"I guess, maybe." While it was an interesting theory, it didn't really solve the issue of Ruby requiring some sort of... Training? Education? What should she call it.

 

"So when will you sign her up for the basic social certificate?" Yang inquired as she curiously peered at the white haired girl.

 

She blinked. "Social certificate?"

 

"Uh, don't they give out those little pamphlets or whatever? It should have all the information on there. I'd explain it but I'm afraid I forgot a lot of that, and would deliver informations that are outdated or something." The blonde shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

 

The pamflet, that's right. "I... Haven't, no. I forgot about that actually. I should read it while I'm at work." If she hasn't lost it yet. That would be a disaster since that's the only thing that could give her some clue of what to do next. While internet was helpful, it had its own issues.

 

"You should get to it as soon as you can, for your sake and your pup." Yang nodded.

 

"Right. Speaking of things I need... I... I need underwear, Yang." She cleared her throat, trying her best to control her face so it didn't blush.

 

The taller girl started to slowly lean forward, as her eyes moved down towards the Schnee's dress, brow slowly raising.

 

It took a moment for her to understand what her friend was doing, as she sat straight up and fixed her dress. "Not for me, Yang! For Ruby." She rolled her eyes as she saw the other girl snicker.

 

"Right, right. Uh, I can tell you the store I go for any kind of clothes for Blake. Or rather where Blake goes, since I don't need to go with her." The blonde sat up from her leaning position.

 

"Alright, I can write it down." Weiss nodded as she started to look for something inside her bag she could write on. Complicated task, especially considering she prefered digital means of making notes.

 

"Yeah, so remember that store? The one I always buy stuff in?" Yang began, only to get cut off by the other girl.

 

"No Yang..."

 

"Oh, well it's next to..."

 

"No! I mean, not like this Yang. I need an address, not you giving me a vague map of some area I barely was in. You remember how that ended last time, right?" She frowned.

 

Yang winced at that. "Ouch, right. Well, police did find you, right? So nothing bad happened. Not much at least." She smiled sheepishly.

 

Weiss glared at her friend. "After five hours."

 

"Fine, fine, sheesh. I'll send you a text message at our last lecture, since I'll be bored anyway." The taller girl rolled her eyes.

 

"Thank you Yang, I'll appreciate that." The Schnee nodded. "Now let's go, or all the good spots will be taken." She said as she stood up.

 

If the store wasn't too far, she could go there before work. Hopefully.

 

oooOOOooo

 

A small bell rang as Weiss opened the door to the store. It wasn't a very big store, at least it didn't seemed like it from the outside. Although once she was inside, she had to admit it was cozy and just big enough, at least for her taste. She wasn't really experienced in interior decoration.

 

"Hello, can I help you, miss?" A very thick accented voice greeted her. She looked around and spotted a... Fanus girl. A bunny girl, with brown ears, hair and eyes. She offered a polite smile, as anyone would in her position.

 

She moved deeper into the store, meeting with the attending faunus midway as she also approached her. "Yes, I'm looking for underwear." She nodded.

 

The bunny girl tilted her head, a bit confused as she looked her customer over, then looked around as if expecting someone else. "I'm sorry but this is a faunus store."

 

"I know, I'm here for faunus underwear." Weiss nodded, although as she saw the faunus girl's brow slowly raise up, she knew she had to add to her previous statement. "For my faunus, I have a pup. I recently adopted her and things were..." She paused, not wanting to know what kind of image the bunny girl would have if she said the word messy. "...complicated." She smiled, or tried to put on her best smile.

 

"I... See, very well. Do you have measurements?" The faunus girl smiled as she already was leading Weiss towards the section where she could get underwear.

 

Although her question made the human girl facepalm. Measurements, of course, she forgot about the most basic thing. "I... No, not really. I forgot." She sighed sadly. Well, this trip was a waste of time.

 

"That's alright, we can try find something fitting. Can you describe her? Is she small or tall? Chubby or slim?" The bunny girl smiled as she turned around to face Weiss once they were at the appropriate section.

 

"Well... Actually? She has similar measurements to myself. Would that help?" That of course was a lie, not because Ruby didn't have the same measurements, but because she didn't really check. Still, the dog girl didn't look that much more different from herself, which was a safe bet. Unless faunus panties costed a lot. That could be a waste. Still, a good bet.

 

The rabbit girl looked at her from head to toes and nodded to herself. Weiss wasn't sure if she heard the other girl murmuring something to herself, or was it just some other noise. Yet, after a bit of doing so, she smiled and nodded. "I think I can work with that. What kind of faunus do you own?"

 

"A dog one." She answered, although a thought appeared in her head that she couldn't help but to voice. "How long do you work here?"

 

"What kind of tail she has? And how long? Since this store is up. My owner got it specifically for me." The rabbit girl turned around and smiled at her.

 

That of course made her brow raise in surprise. "I...uh, medium length I think? With some fluff... Your owner bought you a store? A whole store? Just so you can work in it?" She heard about being easy with money, it was how her previous life was like, but even she, even her past self would admit this was going way above the line.

 

"Pretty much, yes. She owns a line of stores, both for human and faunus. She's also a very well known faunus activist, you might have heard about her." There was a clear indication of being proud over her owner's achievements, most likely the activist part.

 

"Did you want this?" She looked around, still not quite sure how she felt about this revelation. Not that it mattered, but still it was... A new experience. It's as if finding Ruby opened her eyes about how the world worked. She never really paid attention to the faunus side of her reality. How ignorant of her.

 

"Yes, there's nothing worse for me, or I guess for any of us, than inactivity. I'd feel bad for being useless, also I like this. I learn new things, it's always nice to learn new things. It's too bad I can't really have a career in what I really like to do." The bunny faunus sighed sadly.

 

That of course got Weiss curious. "What's that?"

 

The question seemed to dispel the gloomy mood that suddenly clouded the brown haired faunus, as she clasped her hands. "Photography! But faunus can't have a license in that, at least not yet. My owner always promises she will do her best to open more possibilities for us, and for me. Still, I can work unofficially on that for her, so I'm happy." She nodded and gasped. "Oh! There's a thing we're organising. It's for fundraising purposes, we're making calendar and all funds will go for the local FAC."

 

The Schnee had to blink at this information bomb. "Uh, what's FAC again?"

 

"Faunus adoption center, it's a private association that helps with adoption." The bunny girl explained with a smile.

 

"I uh, I see. I mean, I don't think we'll have time to attend." She smiled sheepishly, it was always hard to say no to such initiatives, especially now for this specific kind. She still remembers the fear Ruby felt over being in the pound.

 

The rabbit's ears went down at that. "A shame, we give out vouchers to our stores for the faunus that will get onto the calendar."

 

"A voucher? How much?" That got Weiss's attention. She needed clothes for the girl, and if she could get them for free? It would most likely help out for their home budget.

 

"Five hundred, although it's a one time thing, so you'd have to spend it all at once." The brown haired girl explained with a nod.

 

"Right, it's... What kind of calendar is it?" As she asked the question, she saw the other girl blush and look to the side.

 

"A... A lingerie one." She cleared her throat.

 

"Lingerie." Weiss repeated, a bit dumbfound. She expected it to be something cute, not... Perverted. Can cute be perverted?

 

"It's not my idea, but apparently that's what would sell. Or rather what sells best. It's alright if you change your mind, since you were interested in the voucher. But we're doing it for the greater good." The faunus girl smiled and shrugged.

 

"I'll think about it." Weiss answered and with that said, they both continued with the process of trying to get Ruby some new underwear.

 

oooOOOooo

 

She sat behind the desk at her work, while normally she read some additional things for her university courses, this time she had the small pamphlet in her hands, as she studied it carefully.

 

It was an educational piece, some vague information with more details on some website they provided, while she criticized the internet as a source of knowledge, this time at least she had some firm directions for later.

 

It had informations about social help, mostly how to get a financial benefit, some general idea on how much you can get, which was calculated depending on how much money was earned per family member, faunus included of course.

 

Second portion was about education. It had information about basic education that opens door for more advanced courses. The advanced courses granted a certificate to walk around the city alone, work or take some of the household responsibilities, whatever that could mean.

 

This of course proved to be in some way useful for her even if it was vague, and without being able to open her laptop, she couldn't go to these websites to learn details. One she knew for sure, she had to send Ruby for the basic education course.

 

Door being suddenly opened and in not so gently fashion made her jump a bit as she looked up. In the doorway to the store stood her boss, his face frozen in a perpetual frown. "You're on time, good." He said as he walked inside, and moved towards the backdoor that lead to his office. "Oh, right, did you solve your faunus issue? Not that I care, I just want to make sure you didn't do anything law breaking while on your revitalizing break." He frowned even more, something she wasn't sure was even possible.

 

"I... Yes, Ruby, my faunus, is registered. She is officially my pet." Weiss smiled at that, just saying that made her feel happy. Happy that all that crazy trouble was gone now.

 

"Good... Not that I care of course." He said and with that, and another door being slammed, her disappeared. That made her jump once more, as she highly disliked sudden loud noises, even if she expected it, she could never get used to those.

 

With a sigh she looked down at the pamphlet. She got as much information from it as she could, some more studying will be required after she's back home.

 

She put the thing back into her bag and leaned against the chair she sat on. There was another issue, the offer of that rabbit faunus. The prize, if Ruby got herself onto the calendar, was... Tempting, but wasn't this selling her body? In a way, that is. If it was herself, she... Might have considered it without as much seconding guessing the idea. It was for Ruby, and in the end for the betterment of homeless faunus, or faunus in general.

 

Yet she had power, power she wasn't keen on abusing, even by accident. If she approaches the girl about it, she knows Ruby will accept it, she would accept a lot of things just to make her happy. This, of course, while initially nice, could turn out to be annoying. Like in a situation like this.

 

Was this situation turning desperate, and that started to turn her greedy? Or was she just being opportunistic. Who knew owning a faunus was filled with such moral dilemmas.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny thing is, I wanted to make this chapter a bit longer (Make the bit that was moved to the next chapter, basicly Weiss coming back home and some shenanigans at home) BUT I decided I had to finish this chapter and post it before the final episode of volume 5 happens...
> 
> Why? Because a) This author's note would be like 2k words long AT LEAST of me just being angry at volume 5 and b) It might completely demotivate me to finish this chapter or post it or whatever.
> 
> So here it is, I think it's lengthy enough. I apologize for not posting as often lately, but I just didn't feel like writing. And it wasn't that I felt uninspired, I just decided to just take a break, hang out with some friends and play some vidya, which occured at the same time of day that I usually use for writing. Still, next month might be completely free for me, so I might have tons of time to catch up.
> 
> Anyway, about the chapter! Velvet huh? And no name drops. Of course the store owner is Coco cause … You know, who else. I have a weird block towards name drops like that, I'm sorry. It will happen.
> 
> Also this story is planned ahead, with resolutions to things that already occur in the story, so I already know what will happen next. Also I wanted to make the lingerie an issue for Weiss as I showed in the story, so she's worried if she's turning greedy, if it isn't abusing Ruby and all that jazz, but then I remembered that the last few chapters/bonus chapters were a bit... echi, is that the term? And well... THIS ISN'T HELPING MY CASE.
> 
> Still, while I already know what will happen next and all that jazz, I'm curious what do you think Weiss should do? Or what you would do. Also what are you thoughts on this chapter? Share them with me! I like interacting or just reading nice (Or mean, as long as they try to be critical and help me improve my stuff) things.


	12. Certificate

"Thank you for walking me back home, Yang, I needed some distraction." Weiss smiled as she walked besides her taller friend.

 

"Not a problem, I was around and I thought I wouldn't mind visiting your workplace." The blonde grinned. "Still I'm not sure I understand your issue. You're afraid that you might sell Ruby off or something? I mean you could just ask her? I'd do that with Blake if there was that opportunity. At worst she'd bite me for even suggesting it, but nothing a good fish burger couldn't fix." Yang snickered at her own little joke.

 

Weiss humored the girl by smiling, although she wasn't really amused that much. This was a bit different. "You're forgetting that Ruby is a dog while Blake is a cat. Those two faunus types do operate on a bit different rules, no?" She raised her brow, that of course wasn't that obvious for her, more guesswork than anything.

 

"I guess you're right. Still is it that bad? I mean it's like she's working for her own clothes, nothing bad about that." The taller of the two shrugged.

 

"Yang! That's like selling herself, her body. Really, I'd rather do plenty of things before I'd do something like that myself." She crossed her arms.

 

"Well there you have it, if you wouldn't do it, don't make Ruby do it." Yang once more shrugged.

 

"Yeah well... I could use that voucher though." She bit her lower lip. Five hundred wasn't something that could be passed easily, and having it in a form of clothes would mean that she can save that kind of money for something else. Presumably more things related to her new pet.

 

"Then treat it as a necessary thing. Look, plenty of girls dance on the pole to earn cash to go through college or to get cash to pay for university and all that jazz. Sure, it's not the most noble of jobs, but there's no touching involved. Just one picture among many others." The blonde nodded.

 

Weiss frowned thoughtfully. She was right, while this wasn't the best option, they were getting under the wall. She didn't know how the social help would aid them, and even if? How long till they received the first batch of said help.

 

"I'll consider it." She nodded, even before herself she didn't want to make any kind of commitment, not yet. She had to discuss this with Ruby. Not openly of course, but in some... Tricky way.

 

"More important question is when you'll let me meet that pup. You've been hiding her so much I'm starting to think you might have imagined it all because you're going crazy." Yang grinned as she nudged her.

 

"No, I'm going crazy because I decided to keep a pet I can't afford and I still didn't remove your phone number." She replied dryly.

 

The blonde winced at that. "Ouch, right in the heart." She covered her chest at that.

 

"Aw did the big brute get hurt by my words? I'm sure Blake can kiss it better later tonight." Weiss nodded.

 

"Oooh someone is having naughty thoughts about faunus pets huh? Projecting much hmmmm?" Yang grinned as she nudged her once more.

 

"No! Ugh, that's inappropriate and we both know that." She frowned and crossed her arms.

 

"If you say so." The taller girl shrugged. "Still, when will you two visit us so both me and Blake can meet her? I'm curious! And I'm sure she wouldn't mind meeting new people."

 

"I don't know, I want to settle the clothing thing before that, I don't want her to meet new people in that old ruined dress." Weiss grimaced at the thought, as it once more reminded her of the stupid voucher.

 

"Hey neither me nor Blake will mind if she's wearing ruined clothes."

 

"It's not about you two, it's about her comfort. It's not a good feeling when you look like a bum and meet someone for the first time." She let out a soft sigh.

 

"Guess you're right." Yang rubbed her chin. "How about we come over? This way she can wear that hoodie thing you borrowed to never give back." She snapped her fingers at that idea.

 

"That's a better idea, yes." She rubbed her neck as she mulled the idea over inside her head. "Since friday I'll be busy dealing with more bureaucracy, saturday might be filled with modeling, does sunday sounds good?"

 

"Sounds good, and to celebrate we'll bring some takeouts for dinner!" The blonde grinned.

 

"Yang..." Weiss frowned as she looked at her friend.

 

At that the blonde just rolled her eyes. "I know I know, you don't take charity, pity and all that. You need to chill a little bit, Weiss. I'm sure that once you stand up financially you'll do the same. Besides, what you gonna do when I come over with food? Throw me out? Or let it waste and make the cash I spend on it go to waste as well?" The taller girl grinned once more.

 

"Ugh, I'm seriously considering removing your number more and more." She grunted and crossed her arms.

 

"Naw you wouldn't do that, you love me too much!" Yang wrapped one arm around her and brought her closer. While she wanted to stay annoyed, she simply couldn't, as a smile spread across her lips. Yang was right, she wouldn't have her any other way.

 

oooOOOooo

 

"Ruby I'm home." Weiss announced as she closed the door behind her. She heard the radio play some currently popular pop song and she smiled at that. It was odd getting back home to something else than silence.

 

Still something was... Off. She expected for Ruby to come over and greet her. The first thought was that she was asleep or in the bathroom, but that thought was discarded as she noticed the girl sitting on the ground, leaned against the bed and just staring at the radio.

 

She wasn't sure if this was normal. While she thought it was unusual, perhaps it was some way for the girl to relax? Kill time? Is this what she did all day?

 

"Ruby?" She called out. Getting no answer she bit her lower lip as she settled her bag on the ground and decided to approach the girl.

 

The closer she moved, the more worried she got. Ruby was curled up, holding her knees against her chest and... The sound. The sound she made. Was she sobbing?

 

Weiss's eyes went wide as she moved quickly to kneel next to the girl and turned her so that she faced her. There she saw the glossy silver eyes and dried tear streak going down the girl's cheeks.

 

"Ruby, what happened? Are you hurt?" She wasn't sure what was going on, the girl seemed alright. She got even more confused as fresh tears started erupting from the girl's eyes.

 

"I-I'm sorry." As if she needed more reasons for this situation to be completely baffling.

 

"What are you sorry for, Ruby? Did something happen? Please tell me." She moved her hands from the girl's shoulder to gently grasp her face.

 

"Y-You did all this for me, a-and I'm sad because I miss my old owner, m-my old life." She sobbed through tears as she pushed that sentence through.

 

It took her a moment before she understood what the redhead meant. She smiled and brought the faunus girl into a hug. "You don't need to feel bad about it, you silly girl. It's natural to feel this way." As she hugged her with one arm, she moved her other hand to pet her head.

 

"It is?" She heard the muffled question.

 

She gently pushed the girl away only to look at her face, a soft smile on her features. "Of course, you're sad because everything you knew and had was so abruptly taken from you. It's appropriate for you to feel this way. It's not about just accepting your new situation and forgetting about the past. It's about accepting what happened, and moving forward."

 

"Oh..." Was the only answer Ruby gave. She wasn't sure if the dog girl truly understood what it meant, but as long as she knew she didn't need to feel guilty over missing her old owner, it was enough.

 

"I won't replace your first owner, and I won't bake things for you each sunday because I don't really know how to bake, neither do I have time to do that. I can just offer you what I have and hope it'll be enough for you to move on and find new happiness. But I'll never replace Summer." She saw that conjuring the name of Ruby's previous owner had an effect on the girl.

 

She wasn't sure what kind of effect, as the dog girl was currently a mix of various emotions, mostly confusion and most likely for the same reason she was confused, not being able to read her emotions.

 

"I don't want to be ungreatful." The redhead mumbled.

 

"You're not. It's alright to be sad when something bad happens. True, you can't stay sad forever, at some point you need to move on, but in your case? You can stay sad for a long time before it'll be bad for you to keep being sad, alright? So don't ever feel bad if you're sad. Also if you do get sad? Please tell me, I'll try to help in some way." At that point she started feeling exhaustion. University, work and just the day slowly coming to an end took it's toll on her, and yet here she was, having to comfort this poor girl.

 

"Alright, and I'm no longer sad. I mean, not like I was when you were away." Ruby said as a small smile appeared on her lips. Still the better sign of that were her ears that moved up, no longer laid flat against the dog girl's hair.

 

"Good, now let me get refreshed after today and I'll make us something warm to drink." She slowly moved away and stood up, petting the girl one more time before heading towards the bathroom.

 

Kingdom for one peaceful day.

 

oooOOOooo

 

Weiss was laying on her bed with a laptop on her lap, a mug of tea on a nightstand next to her, and to her other side a curled up faunus dog girl. She wasn't sure if Ruby was asleep or just laying there with her eyes closed, if the first she just hoped there wouldn't be issues with her sleeping schedule.

 

Her goal for this evening was to search through the sites on the pamphlet and get some more precise information.

 

This of course would be done faster if she had both her hands free, sadly one of them was required to pet the girl besides her. Perhaps the first moment in a long time where efficiency wasn't the first thing on her mind.

 

She started with the most important thing, money.

 

Browsing through the sites, she saw the form that needed to be filled in together with some sort of build in calculator that would provide her with information about numbers. She decided to click on that to see how complex the thing was, and to no surprise it would most likely take her an hour or two to fill this thing up, not to mention finding the documents these numbers were on.

 

Still she didn't consider this a waste of time, since going through the rules showed that all the faunus pets in the household had to have the basic certificate or be in the process of obtaining one. This meant she needed to send Ruby for the basic course as fast as possible, which also meant she needed to get her some proper clothes as fast as possible.

 

It almost annoyed her of how much she was constantly reminded about that stupid voucher.

 

The second thing was education. She browsed through the site that was on the pamphlet which offered a few places around the city in which various courses could be taken. The basic one was available everywhere but one. Still she thought that it perhaps would be better if Ruby obtained all of the necessary certificates in one places.

 

The basic one taught them how to operate in a society, basically norms that every child should know. While Ruby might already know it, she didn't have a paper to prove it, so she'd have to go through it.

 

Then there was the advance course, which included basic math that everyone uses on a daily basis, reading and writing, some basic creative elements that she wasn't sure what it meant.

 

These two were recommended and fully covered for adopted pets. It was a good start, although the fact that these two were fully covered meant that the other certificates might have some fee's. She bit her lip and decided to browse through them all, it won't hurt her to know, right?

 

The free roam certificate allowed for the faunus to walk on their own between six in the morning and midnight. The course taught about the traffic law together with some additional social classes which were focused on the faunus not getting easily tricked into something. Basically don't trust strangers rule at work.

 

Shopping certificate which allowed the faunus to buy things in stores as long as the price tag wasn't bigger than five hundred. The course offered an education in some basic economy knowledge, together with understanding how money worked and down to the most necessary knowledge, how to even shop in various stores.

 

Her eyes slowly started to gloss over most of these and she didn't get into details. There was a housekeeping certificate, a cooking certificate and finally a job certificate. She assumed they were self explanatory enough that she didn't need to waste time going through lists of what they allowed and what they offered.

 

Of course her fears were correct. Only the basic and advance courses were fully paid by the city, the rest had a various costs attached to them, which were reduced in case of adopted pets, but still the owner had to pay part of it.

 

The cost varied depending on how long the course is. So the free roaming one was the most expensive, while the cooking one seemed to be the cheapest. Not a big surprise, considering that most of it was self practice.

 

She reached for the mug with her tea to take a sip. She wasn't a big fan of tea, but it didn't mean she couldn't appreciate the drink. She always thought that tears should taste like tea. Bitter, instead of salty.

 

As she looked at the screen without any real purpose, her other hand played with the dog girl's ears, or one ear really. She gently tugged the ear back, for it to slowly raise up to its previous position. While pointless it did entertain her, especially together with the soft fur texture and how warm it felt overal.

 

This brought her full attention to the faunus pup besides her, as she looked her over. Her journey to try and get the social aid would have to wait, since she first needs to register Ruby for the basic course. This meant her friday was free, at least from work and university.

 

While she wouldn't mind having the financial issue settled, this was also good, because she needed a free afternoon after Ruby's previous emotional outburst to settle some things.

 

oooOOOooo

 

"How do I look?" Ruby asked as she turned around wearing the previously bought lingerie.

 

Weiss rolled her eyes at that. "Ruby, it's not about how you look, it's about how you feel in it. It's not exactly something people will see you in..." She paused at her own words. It was a lie since she'll most likely will for the stupid calendar... Maybe.

 

"Oh..." The dog girl looked at herself thoughtfully. "I think it fits, my tail isn't hurting so that's good." She smiled.

 

It was the most basic, white set of a bra and panties. The most surprising thing was that she didn't really feel embarrassed by seeing the girl like this. Which could mean a few things. For one the situation around the voucher could just block that sort of feelings. Two she just came to terms with it and it wasn't a big deal, together with her most likely being tired that night, and finally third, the worst. Her having weird fetishes.

 

She shook her head at that, at this point any psychologist would have a field day with her stupid brain.

 

"Weiss? Can I put on something else? I'm getting cold." Ruby's voice brought her back from her thoughts.

 

"Huh? Oh! Of course Ruby, I got you these and some for change for tomorrow and day after that. This way it should be enough to do the laundry and make you not... Walk naked." She cleared her throat.

 

The dog girl took the hoodie soon to get swallowed by the big piece of clothing. "But I never was naked, I always wore something, like this!" She raised her arms only for the sleeves to move down them.

 

"Right, well you're... Even less naked this way." She chuckled. "Ruby? Can you answer me something?" She bit her lower lip as she eyed the faunus girl.

 

"Yes?" The redhead peered up at her curiously.

 

"Just promise me you'll be honest, and you won't try to answer in any way just to please me. Promise this, Ruby." She said in a firm tone of voice, which made the dog girl even more confused, but she nodded.

 

"I promise."

 

"There's a chance for... For free clothes, a lot of free clothes for you, but it's not going to be entirely for free. You'd have to do something to get them." She observed Ruby for any sign of... Anything, really, not sure what to expect.

 

"Alright? What would I need to do?" The girl tilted her head to the side.

 

"Pose in... Like just a moment before and get photographed." She already felt guilty just presenting this idea to the girl, already feeling bad of how she voiced it.

 

"Oh... Why do they need my picture like that?" The redhead inquired further.

 

"It's for a calendar, they want to sell it, and later use the money to help with faunus related things." How else could she ask, any kind of going around the question could affect her answer anyway. Might as well just be straight about it.

 

"So it will help others? And we could get free clothes?" After a moment the dog girl asked.

 

"I guess so, yes." She nodded.

 

The redhead looked at herself, mostly at her hoodies, and raised her head to once more focus on her. "Would the free clothes help us?"

 

"They would, yeah. It's a lot of money." She rubbed the back of her neck.

 

"In that case I can do it." The girl paused and looked down the floor. "Mostly to help... Us, but if it'll also help others? It just further makes me want to do it."

 

She smiled softly. "Alright, if you change your mind, don't worry about telling me. It's this saturday so you have a few days to change your mind. Now let's head to bed, it's already late." She stood up and headed towards the bed.

 

Deep down she expected, hoped for Ruby to reject this offer, how easy that would be. Sadly that was not the case, and she'd have to live with this awful feeling deep down her heart.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't sleep, so I got up and after fighting my migraine with some pills and an hour or two with some vidya, I decided to sit down and write this. It's a short chapter, but I think it might answer some of your questions, since plenty of people are curious how this AU world operates in terms of faunus stuff. So I decided to give you guys some information. In case of question HOW these works, I'll leave that for a different chapter.
> 
> So since I stayed literally all night, and It's 8 am in the morning, I think I should make this short and just head to bed.
> 
> I had another whiterose story in mind, but I decided to just focus on this one, my monochrome one and my newest addition, the Freezerburn story. I'll think about another whiterose once I get more free time or something.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to tell me if you did (or didn't).


	13. Worthless

In the past if she had a free friday like this? It would be a celebration on its own. Oh how many things would she do, catch up with so many topics, her school work, perhaps visit some stores in hopes of sales for various products her small home needed at the moment.

 

Sadly? Sadly this wasn't the case anymore. Lately all her free time was dedicated to settle each and every thing around Ruby and her status as a pet. While it sounded bad, there was no going around the fact that she was tired.

 

Perhaps if she sent Ruby to gain certificates would this issue be settled, she now understood why parents were so eager to send their kids to school. It was some additional free time, or at least time in which their kids were watched over and seemingly safe.

 

Of course this didn't mean that she had troubles with the girl, far from it. It's just that she needed her to be a bit more self sufficient. Between the time she scouted the website for information and now, she made an important decision.

 

She'd send the girl to four courses, the basic and advance one, as well as the one allowing her to walk freely and to shop. This had to be done in order for this not to be a constant babysitting procedure. Later? Later perhaps the job one. But that of course required funding.

 

Still, weariness could be easily handled. Just take a nap, go to bed earlier and all that. The worst was the financial situation. She was happy about making an emergency back up money when she could, but that was slowly drying up. She wasn't sure if she could afford the food for two people and pay for rent. Not to mention other things both of them would require.

 

All this filled her head as she looked deeply into her own morning coffee, sitting at the kitchen table. Some music played in the background but it didn't really disturb her. Her concentration was always hard to break. It's called discipline.

 

Perhaps the going out she planned for later would fix her mood. Hopefully it would improve Ruby's mood.

 

Speaking of which. "Ruby?" She raised her head to look at the redhead.

 

"Yes?" She saw her ears perk up and her head move to look at her.

 

"Do you want to visit Summer? It was some time since you last visited, I thought that since I'm free today we could do that." She smiled at the dog girl.

 

Ruby's ears went flat against her head as she looked down. "But we can't visit her, she's..." She paused, reality of the situation still too heavy for her to openly admit to it.

 

"You still can talk to her, I'm sure you have plenty of things to tell her." Her smile remained, as she didn't want to further worsen the girl's mood.

 

"I... I guess." Ruby let out a sigh. While Weiss didn't want to push it too much, she knew it was important for the girl to face this, otherwise she'd never really accept it, and hiding from truth is never the best option.

 

She took a sip from her cup and stood up to approach the redhead as she crouched next to her only to ruffle the girl's hair. "You'll feel better this way, besides you don't want to neglect her, right?"

 

"I guess, when do you want us to go?" The girl looked up at her, and Weiss looked at her alarm clock.

 

"We can go as soon as I'm done with my coffee." She nodded and stood up. Still, some preparations were in order.

 

oooOOOooo

 

"Is the jacket alright? It's the only thing that would fit." She looked worriedly at the dog girl who took her eyes off the bus window and focused on her.

 

"It's alright." She smiled at that, although Weiss noticed it lacked the usual... Spark behind it. It was a polite smile, not a genuine one. She reached to wrap an arm around the girl.

 

"Is something bothering you, Ruby?" The girl in question moved her eyes to look away, her ears falling flat against her hair.

 

"Do you think she'll be mad at me?" Only once she asked did her eyes move back to look at her.

 

She blinked, needing a second to understand what the faunus girl meant. "No, of course not. Ruby, you didn't do anything bad. You just had the wrong idea about how to handle your problem. It's why I want you to visit her, and not just today. We'll visit her regularly, alright? So you won't forget about her, and she'll know that you're safe and happy... Unless you won't be happy, although I would like to hear that one first, please." She chuckled and patted her head.

 

"Did you have someone close to you die as well?" Ruby tilted her head curiously.

 

That made her raise her brow. "Why do you ask?"

 

"Because you seem to know all about... Well, this." Her silver eyes moved to the side after the pause she made in her sentence.

 

Weiss just smiled, although it was a sad type of smile. "Maybe one day i'll tell you, since it's quite complicated, and to be honest? I'm still trying to figure it out."

 

The dog girl just looked confused at her, and she shrugged, not knowing what else to tell the girl. She didn't even tell the full story to Yang, let alone anyone else, but there was a reason for that. She still was figuring it out, or maybe she just did what Ruby was doing?

 

"We're almost there." She commented to draw the attention away from herself. "We'll buy a few flowers at the stands that are near there, alright? Your pick."

 

"Alright." Ruby nodded, either forgetting about the previous topic, or just agreeing on dropping it for now.

 

The rest of the ride was silent, as both girls were deep in their own thoughts.

 

oooOOOooo

 

"I wish they had roses." Ruby commented as they walked through the grave sites. Weiss counted once more the rows as to know which one it was.

 

"Wouldn't that be a bit cheesy?" She raised a brow, and seeing the dog girl's confusion she decided to explain before the girl had a chance to voice said confusion. "I mean, her last name was Rose, wouldn't that be a bit redundant? To bring roses to a Rose person."

 

"I... Don't know, do you think it would be bad?" The faunus looked down at the flowers she was carrying. It was a small bouquet of tiny blue flowers, The Schnee wasn't sure what they were called, but they looked nice and... Well, were cheap. Luckly roses weren't on sale as she expected them to be the most pricey.

 

"Not entirely, but I think bringing a symbolic rose would be more appropriate to celebrate something. Like anniversary of her passing, her birthday or your own birthday." She said with a soft smile.

 

"Maybe you're right." Ruby nodded at that. She lead the girl towards her previous owner grave, as she tried not to invoke the memories of when they last were here. Remembering the girl broken as she was still made her heart skip a beat.

 

Once they were there, she patted the girl on the head. "There, I think you'll find your way back to the gate, right? I'll wait over there for you."

 

"You won't stay?" Her ears perked up as she looked at the human girl.

 

"No, I think it's something you need to do on your own. If someone will get you trouble for not having a collar, tell them I'm at the gate. Take your time now." With one last glance she started to move back towards the gate.

 

She never was a spiritual person, and she felt as if her sole presence disturbed the small ritual that was about to happen at that grave. Besides, it was a moment between the dog girl and her previous owner, she had nothing to add into that.

 

Once she got to the gate she instinctively reached towards her pocket for a specific item. She sighed as she didn't find it there, places like this always make her return to her old habits, or was it because she had nothing to do.

 

"Hey, need a smoke?" She saw a package with one cigarette already out in offering as it was moved towards her. She wasn't sure if it was the voice, or rather the owner of said voice, that made her clench her teeth, or was it the offering itself.

 

It took her a few seconds before she pushed the offered package away. "I quit, but thank you." She raised her eyes to look at the person that offered it. "I never thought I'd meet you here, Neptune."

 

He shrugged at that. "Seemed to me like you were looking for one. I'm not here often, but I do like to leave a flower or two on my grandparents grave."

 

"How... Nice of you." She paused as she looked for something diplomatic to say.

 

"My mom thinks the same hah, didn't know you had someone laying here." He thumbed at the general direction of the graveyard.

 

"I don't, I'm here with someone, waiting for them as we speak." She crossed her arms. "I don't want to occupy your time, I know you're busy."

 

"Please, you would never be a bother, Weiss. Besides, you never came back at me with that date offer, remember? For helping you out." He grinned and waggled his eyebrows at her.

 

She used all her willpower to not roll her eyes, instead offering a polite smile. "I'd love to, but lately I was incredibly busy."

 

"Aw you're always busy. I told you before, you should just bunk at my place and not worry about any sort of bills or nothing. This way all you need to care for is your studies and not that job you're keeping. Or hell, why even bother with that? I'll inherit my dad's business, so I'll be earning enough cash for the both of us." Once more the boy's grin was present, his white shiny teeth exposed.

 

"If being a strong independent woman fails for me, I'll consider your generous offer." She was lucky she didn't bring Yang with her, as she would already get physical with this guy, and not in the good way. Still perhaps he wouldn't be as open about his offers with the blonde around.

 

Their conversation was interrupted as a voice came from the gate near which they both stood. "Weiss? I'm back." Ruby announced quietly, not sure if she should disturb them.

 

The Schnee thanked the stars for this, as it meant she was able to leave. "Good, let's go then."

 

"Whoa, you're taking care of someone's faunus? Or is that your pet?" Neptune asked as he eyed the dog girl.

 

The faunus girl in question raised a hand in a mute greeting, smiling politely. "I'm her legal guardian, yes." She squinted her eyes, not sure why the boy was so interested in that. Was it just plain curiosity or something else.

 

"Ouch, but she's old, that means you adopted her? Weiss my snow princess, all you had to do is call me, I'd hook you up with some high classed breed of faunus, not some used goods off the pound." He nodded.

 

"Used goods?" Weiss raised a brow, she saw the redhead's ears go flat, her tail curling up between her legs as she heard the boy's words.

 

"Yeah, they tell you all sorts of thing at the pound just so you take one home, and they even pay you with all the social stuff and whatever. I mean, not that I want to insinuate anything, but if they pay you to keep something, that can't be the best quality..."

 

_**SLAP** _

 

They boy's sentence was interrupted as an open hand slammed the side of his face. Weiss grabbed Ruby's wrist and pulled her to follow. She had enough of this, and gods help her if she wouldn't do something worse if she was to try and keep her resolve any minute longer.

 

"W-Weiss? It hurts." The dog girl's voice made her stop, as she looked back at her, only to understand what she meant. Her angry expression softened as she released the girl's wrist.

 

"I'm sorry Ruby, I just got angry. Our bus will be here soon, so let's try and catch it." She forced a smile. Hopefully Neptune wouldn't try to talk this one out, at least not right now, because she was not in the mood for any of that.

 

oooOOOooo

 

The trip home was done in silence. Weiss was still pissed off, and Ruby seemed to understand that, as she just quietly sat in the bus, only to later follow her newest owner back till they reached the apartment.

 

It was still early in the afternoon, yet she already felt this exhausted. Who knew anger could tire someone this much. Perhaps it was all of it catching up to her? This was unsure, but at least the rest of the day was for her.

 

"Ruby, how about I'll make us something warm to drink?" She turned around to face the girl with a smile. She wasn't pissed off anymore, and the faunus seemed so quiet and... Scared? No, that wasn't it. She was just so distant since the graveyard situation occurred.

 

In response she just nodded, which made Weiss frown. She approached the redhead and placed both hands on her cheeks, making the girl look up at her. "Ruby, what's wrong?" She asked concerned about the dog girl's well being. It was clear as ever that something was bothering her, the issue was what exactly was that.

 

"N-Nothing." She answered, her eyes moving to the side as she didn't want to look at the human girl.

 

"Ruby..." Weiss said firmly, she didn't want to force the girl, but if she suddenly turned out stubborn, she wasn't sure if she could keep her composure that long.

 

"Am I really worthless?" The girl suddenly asked, raising her silver eyes to meet hers.

 

"Worthless? Ruby, why are you thinking of yourself as worthless?" She frowned.

 

"Because of what that person you talked to said. He said I'm used goods, right? And used things are always worse. They are cheaper because nobody wants them. Worthless." The dog girl's eyes went down once again.

 

Of course, the fallout from this situation, she completely forgot about that. It surprised her how not angry she was over this, as if she was expecting to get pissed off at Neptune once more for making Ruby like this. Yet this wasn't time to be angry.

 

"Ruby, who do you trust more? Me, or that ... "person" from the graveyard?" She forced the girl to look at her.

 

"You?" The girl answered, not sure why such question was asked of her.

 

"Why?" She continued to ask.

 

"I don't know? Because I don't know that other person?" Weiss knew how the girl felt right now, like when asked a very obvious question in which you know the answer but aren't sure if it's not a trick question because the answer is so obvious. The easiest way to test confidence, although she wasn't really testing that with Ruby right now.

 

"Good, so if I tell you that you're not worthless, who will you believe. Me, or that person?" Her firm expression softened and she smiled.

 

"You, I guess." The dog girl sighed. "But you don't want me to be sad, so you might say things I just want to hear. That person had no interest in me feeling good or bad." The faunus hugged herself.

 

Great, now she had to be all smart and logical about things. If she was studying psychology this could lead to a research in which the term that stupid people are optimistic would need to change into optimism brings stupid, or did sadness and depression increase intelligence? Maybe she should study psychology, or was that cognitive stuff?

 

"Very well Ruby, how do you define worth then. If you think of yourself as worthless, that means you need to understand what it means to be worthy." She focused her gaze on the girl's face.

 

Ruby opened her mouth a few times, but no words came, after a while of such the frustration took the better of her, as tears started to stroll down her cheeks. "I don't know, I just sit in your house all day and I don't do anything and I eat your food and you have to do things for me and...and..." No more words came out, coherently at least, as sobs took over her.

 

Weiss's eyes went wide as she bit her lower lip and pulled the girl into a tight hug. She did it, she went too far. Still perhaps this was a good way to solve this, it was clear that the girl was frustrated over this for a long time, and Neptune's words were just the tipping point of an issue that already grew inside her.

 

After the initial wave of sobs and sadness, Weiss lead the girl towards the bed, where she sat her down, only to take place besides her, as she didn't want to let go of the girl. She felt the dog girl's arms wrapped tightly around herself. Luckly she had the solution at hand, she just needed the faunus girl to be a bit less emotional at the moment.

 

Soon the crying ended, and Weiss held the girl as she petted her hair with gentle strokes. She understood her, not wanting to be a tick on society, or anyone really. "Do you feel better" She asked as she looked down. She saw the ears still being down, as they laid against the hair.

 

She felt the girl gently shake her head, which made her sigh. "Ruby I didn't want to bother you with all this at once, but there is a plan, you know." She gently pried herself from the girl to look at her. She was a mess, with her red eyes, tears rubbed all over her face as the girl kept rubbing her face against her chest, and her bangs all glued to her forehead.

 

The dog girl sniffled a bit. "P-Plan?"

 

She moved to gently brush some of her hair from the girl's face. "Yes, since you're now legally registered, that means you can now start getting education so you can start being able to do things. Not only be able to, but you'll learn how to do these things." She smiled gently.

 

"Things?" The dog girl blinked, curiosity replaced her sadness, at least for now.

 

"Yes, at first it'll be simple things, like how to properly live in a big city, since you're from the countryside. Later it'll be reading and writing, counting and doing math and all sorts of things. After that? It depends how well you'll do at the first two, but hopefully there's plenty more things you'll be able to do on your own." Although Ruby's face didn't show it, the Schnee couldn't help but notice the tail wag behind her, as well as the ears perking up.

 

"W-Will it help? You I mean." It was what she considered the final blow to repel this curse.

 

"Yes, it will. But it'll be a long process, still it has to start somewhere." As she saw a glimpse of smile show on the redhead's face, her own smile grew a bit bigger.

 

"I just don't want to be worthless." Her ears once more dropped, and Weiss decided to manually put them up, a gesture that confused the faunus as she looked weirdly at her.

 

"Ruby, you're not worthless simply because you don't want to be worthless. Worthless people are worthless because they assume they are worthy and they don't need to try being worthless, but that's the trick. You need to actively attempt to not be worthless all your life in order to not be that. So stop worrying so much, or i'll bite your ears." She smirked as she saw the girl's hands land on her ears in a defensive manner.

 

"I won't." She smiled, presumably understanding the joke.

 

"Good, now I wanted to make myself some coffee and enjoy the rest of today, so let's rest before tomorrow." She stood up and stretched, sitting in one position with the dog girl in her arms didn't end up too well for her body.

 

"Alright." She saw the dog girl smile up at her.

 

"While I make us something to drink, you should wash your face." She ruffled her hair and headed towards the kitchen. She sighed deeply as she heard the girl disappear behind the door of the bathroom. Tomorrow will sure be a special day, she already could tell.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to start this by saying that I don't really care about Neptune's character, but I apologize if there's anyone here who actually enjoys his character. For me he was a cheap attempt to bring some forced romance plot into the show early on where they weren't sure what the hell they wanted to do with RWBY. He was obnoxious, not funny even in ironic way, and stuff resolving around him was just bad. That said, I didn't really put him in the spot I did because I dislike him. No, he just fit into what I looked for. A self confident pretty boy. Although I don't think anyone here will mind this, since this is a whiterose story and Neptune was sort of disturbance for that. God help us if they decide to bring him back FOR WHATEVER REASON.
> 
> That aside I just wanted to share one of the crazy endings I wanted to have for this story, or rather a crazy subplot/thing that would happen – This of course won't happen anymore, but it amused me so I'll share. I wanted to make Weiss turn out to be a faunus, in some way made to look like a faunus. This of course was bad for a few reasons. First was the ears, you can cut off the tail, but its hard to make human ears out of animal. Yes, in this story faunus don't have their humanoid ears. Why? Because I hate double ears, sue me! The worst problem was that it would make me feel like I'm making some sort of statement. And I don't want to make any sort of political or whatever statements. This is a story about a dog girl and a human girl and their potential romance, I don't think there's a worse way to make a statement outside of like, making a p*rno movie.
> 
> With that said, the next chapter I hopefully involve the sunday, and if people remember it's when Yang and Blake will visit. 
> 
> I appreciate all comments/reviews! Remember that it's the best way for an author to feel like his story is read and enjoyed!


	14. Photo session

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to apologize even before you read this. I promised that in this chapter Yang and Blake would meet up with Ruby, but because I'm a moron who thought that the events that occured in this chapter wouldn't be that long, I thought I could squeeze in two things into this chapter. Sadly this chapter's content turned out to be enough on it's own to fill out a chapter. I apologize.

When did it came to this. This horrible situation in which her morning coffee wasn't filled with delight and happiness from having her first caffeine being inserted into her system via this richly flavoured beverage she hand picked and never saved on.

 

It wasn't the first time that she was having dark thoughts, doubts and other bothersome processes inside her head. If it's not one thing, it's another. She wondered if at the exact same time tomorrow it will be filled with regrets, instead of worries, and most importantly if regrets felt better than worries. It's what her life came to, really. Picking one over the other.

 

She tilted her head to watch Ruby who was sitting in her usual spot, besides the bed at the ground and in front of the radio. It was like a television for her, it almost made her wonder why she disliked watching shows on her laptop.

 

She took another sip. With a heavy sigh she decided to ask one last time. "Ruby? Did you change your mind about today?" The first reaction was her ears perking up and her tail stopping to wagle, as if thinking required all her concentration and even her tail had to stop moving. It didn't mean she called the girl stupid, far from it, if anything? It was an adorable little quirk that most likely the girl wasn't even aware of.

 

Second thing was her head turning around. She saw her curious face, as if she heard the voice but her mind was still processing the meaning behind them. Then her silver eyes shone with realization as the process of deciphering the meaning of her words was done.

 

The last part was delivering the answer, as her curious features shifted to a more cheerful one and a smile appeared on her lips. She gave a nod only to follow it with a verbal response. "I didn't, we can go there and I'll do my part." She answered as her tail once more wagged behind her.

 

She smiled at the dog girl and nodded, going back to her coffee. Only once she was sure the faunus got focused on the radio, did she sigh softly once more. She hoped Ruby would change her mind, only to save her from the inevitable regrets. The closer to the event, the more horrible she felt.

 

Yet the worst?

 

The worst was that she knew it had to be done.

 

oooOOOooo

 

The photo studio was in a very tall building that didn't really look any different than all other architecture around. Unoriginal, build for practical reasons and not to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Weiss opened the front door only to see a long white corridor that gently curved to the point that you couldn't see the end of it. It was well lit, neither too bright nor too dark, considering the white... Everything.

 

She took a deep breath as she began to move through the corridor, followed by the dog faunus, who curiously looked around. She once more looked at the card she received from the rabbit girl at the end of her lingerie shopping, to check if she got the right address.

 

It was quiet, which was strange. She expected some busy noises, plenty of people with their faunus, since it was something that apparently was done before. Yet there was nothing, just their steps echoing through the corridor.

 

Soon they approached a grey, plastic doors. At least they looked plastic on the outside, once Weiss attempted to open them, she understood how heavy they were. With a little bit of a struggle she managed to open them, only to see... Well, a photo studio. She wasn't a photography expert, but she saw these in movies or pictures. There were a few lamps to give a proper light, the background screen, and that umbrella thingy she never understood what it was and for what purpose was it there.

 

Outside of that? Plenty of clothes, some accessories, lots of boxes and chests with gods knows what and a few chairs. Looking up she also saw that this room was very high, as if there were no other floors but this one.

 

It was hard to not make a sound while struggling with the heavy doors, as such their presence was noticed by the only living being inside, the rabbit girl. She perked up as she stood up to greet them. "You came! Hello, I was starting to doubt if you would." She smiled cheerfully.

 

She smiled politely at that, stepping to the side so that she didn't cover the dog girl. "Yes, we did. Hello, this is Ruby, my faunus that I told you about."

 

The bunny girl focused her gaze on the girl and moved closer, extending her hand to greet the redhead. "I'm Velvet, nice to meet you." She leaned to meet the girl's height.

 

"Hello, I'm Ruby." The dog girl smiled back at the other faunus, shaking her head.

 

"You actually didn't introduce yourself the first time we meet, I should have knew I forgot something." She sighed and shook her head. "What's done is done, I'm Weiss." Neither of them extended their hands, as it was in bad taste to shake hands between humans and faunus, a gesture that was left between the species. She wasn't sure why, but it was hard for both of them to break such custom since it was something believed to just be the right thing to do.

 

"Oh no, I'm so sorry! I always get like that, I got excited because you seemed interested to be part of our calendar." The rabbit girl offered an apologetic smile.

 

"Speaking of which, where are... Others? I thought it's like a casting thing." Weiss raised her brow as she looked around.

 

Velvet just shrugged. "It's just for you two, well for Ruby." She nodded towards the dog girl, which smiled in return.

 

"Just for us?" She frowned, situations like this always seemed suspicious.

 

"Yes! Well, I wasn't sure if you two would come, but I noticed that you were interested so I asked my owner if we could do a session, I hope that's not bad?" As anxiety rose inside the rabbit's girl's head, her ears slowly moved down. Her brown eyes looking between Weiss and Ruby.

 

The human girl just waved her hand. "It's fine." Perhaps she was being paranoid. She will proudly embrace the title of being naive if it turns out to be something bad, but Velvet seemed like a type that she couldn't be part of anything bad, at least not without some clue. "So what are we to do?" She raised her brow.

 

"Oh you can just sit down at the chair, I prepared it at the side for you so you can observe. There's also a photobook of previous models in there so you can see that. I'll take Ruby and explain things to her as well as help her with clothes and what to wear. It won't take too long, hopefully." Velvet explained and reached towards Ruby with her hand. It took the dog girl a moment before she understood and gently grabbed the other faunus girl's hand, only to be lead somewhere.

 

Left alone, she just shrugged and went towards the chair that was pointed for her. She understood why it was to the side, it was so that if Ruby was looking her way, it was clear for everyone, and she didn't just glance at her subtly. A distracted model was the worst kind of model.

 

She looked between the book and the two faunus girl's. The two of them talking quietly on the side, well more like Velvet speaking while Ruby intently listened to the other girl. Not wanting to interfere with the works of what she assumed was a trained photographer, she just opted to reach towards the photobook.

 

It was nothing more than an album, although it did look like a book from the outside, hence perhaps why it was called that. Inside were what could be called chapters. Each chapter was dedicated to each photo shooting session, themed after whatever reason it was being held.

 

Season themed clothes, colour themes, places, events, official and casual. It was all here, as if ready to be used in any sort of promotional material, at least she assumed it's why it was stored, or rather made. Fashion fluctuated rapidly, whatever was on these photos was most likely way too old, even if it was just a month old.

 

Then came the calendar chapter, and Weiss couldn't help but to bite into her inner cheek as she saw it. What usually would embarrass her and make her close whatever she was reading, this time? This time it filled her with morbid fascination.

 

Various types of faunus were posing in mostly skimpy outfits... Mostly, because some of them didn't even have that. Of course there was no nudity, but it was cleverly censored with some props, or position or any tricks she knew, and a few she just learned by looking at the photos. That being said there was perhaps a fifty fifty division between lingerie and bikini to ... Well, artistic nudity.

 

The worst was that they were all... Well, how to put it. They looked like models. They didn't look average, or perhaps didn't have this innocent charm about them. No, they were all confident, brave and good looking girls who aren't ashamed of what they could show, and well... They did.

 

Meantime she looked up at Ruby, and while she was pretty, it was a different type of beauty, a different type of charm. This entire situation was one big attempt to defile that what made her so special, so... Charming.

 

She felt her heart starting to beat rapidly. This wasn't right, this... This entire thing, it was wrong. These people can do whatever they want to earn money, if there are faunus and their owners who go for that? Sure, whatever. But this wasn't something Ruby should do, and it was clear she did it because it was required of her, either by the dog girl expecting herself to do it, or she felt pressured because of her.

 

She closed the book and settled it to the side. Standing up she started approaching the two. "Ruby, we're leaving." She looked directly at the girl with a firm expression, she saw the dog girl's ears fall slightly in confusion. She then looked at the rabbit faunus. "I'm sorry but... This is just a mistake. A misunderstanding, I appreciate your offer and I apologize for the time it took you to set everything up." She saw the girl's bunny ears fall and her lips offering a sad smile.

 

"I think I understand. Thank you for considering." The brown haired girl bowed.

 

"Yo!" Came voice from... Above? Was she going crazy... "Up here girl." At that she looked up, only to see a woman in a beret and big sunglasses. She stood on a balcony that hung above the studio and which she didn't notice earlier.

 

"Come up here, take the doors to your right and first stairs to your left. I'm on the last floor. Leave your girl behind, Velvet will entertain her, and don't worry she's smart enough bunny to know you two declined the previous offer." With that the mysterious woman disappeared behind the doors behind her.

 

She raised a brow and looked at Velvet, who just smiled sheepishly and shrugged. She sighed and glanced at Ruby who just nodded, as if understanding the next question that Weiss wanted to ask. With that settled, she decided to play along.

 

Behind the doors, she saw a single corridor, and just as the mysterious voice said she went along it. There were stairs to the left she began to climb. It took her awhile to get to the last floor, and she meet wooden doors which she decided to open, since she was expected.

 

Inside was a cozy looking office, with wollen, blue carpet, some paintings, a potted plant, black, leather coach and some electronics. The biggest part of the room was a big desk, behind which sat the mysterious woman... Or rather girl, as she couldn't be that much older than herself.

 

"Finally made it." The girl stood up. She had short, chocolate hair. She wore a light brown blouse with a black vest on top, below was a loose brown belt that most definitely didn't held anything and was just an accessory. It all ended with black jeans the girl wore. "Name's Coco." As she approached her, she extended her hand.

 

Weiss reached out with her own to shake the offered hand. "Weiss." She nodded, not sure how to take this mysterious woman. Of course she knew who it was. The owner of the store she bought the lingerie in. She actually owned plenty of stores all around the country, if not world, or at least her name was attached to some of the stores outside of the country. Both for humans and faunus. Young and talented, with enough luck to quickly earn not only a small fortune, but a real one.

 

And here she was, in front of her, invited by her even. Was this luck, or a curse, what sort of joke would fate play on her this time.

 

"Have a sit." She waved her hand at the chair on one side of the big desk, as the brown haired girl moved to sit on the other side. Weiss followed and did as requested of her. "I know that look, you're not sure why you are here, and what will happen next. Saw it plenty of time." The girl chuckled.

 

"You surely must understand why I feel this way." She had to be diplomatic. Being too eager was just as bad as being too hostile.

 

"I do, I was watching the entire thing, and I got curious, that's all." The girl shrugged.

 

"You were spying on us?" She raised a brow, suspicion once more filling her mind.

 

"Barely, but while I allow Velvet to do her thing, I'm still making her interact with complete strangers. She's my girl, and I won't risk her getting hurt in any fashion." At her words Weiss sighed with relief. There was some truth in that, she would do a similar thing for Ruby. While it's true that they both left Velvet and Ruby alone, they both had to understand that neither of the girl's really aimed to harm the other.

 

"So you came here in hopes of getting a voucher and then suddenly you change your mind. I'm curious, why is that?" She tilted her head down and lowered her glasses to look directly at her. Weiss noticed that the girl had dark brown eyes.

 

"I did, yes. While we're in a difficult situation, I decided that this shouldn't happen to Ruby even if. We'll find some other way to earn the necessary funds and get some clothing." She found out that it was easier to flaunt herself being poor or in a difficult situation, as she liked to call it, than to claim to her previous life. That just felt disgusting.

 

"How about telling me your story, I'm still curious." The girl sat back in a more comfortable position, as if expecting for her to just roll with it.

 

"Why should I open up to a complete stranger?" She raised a brow, a bit flabbergasted at the request.

 

"I'll make you a different offer if you do, how about it?" Coco smirked.

 

She just squinted her eyes. "What assurance do I have you won't break your word after I tell you your story."

 

"None, outside of my word. Take it or leave it." The girl just shrugged.

 

She sighed deeply, she didn't think of her life as a secret, nor interesting. And she could hide some details. Besides, she was interested in Ruby and her, and that history wasn't really that old... Although with all the crazy events? It might as well be a bit long.

 

"Fine..."

 

oooOOOooo

 

"... So we decided to come here and... Well you know the rest." Weiss shrugged as she finished. It was strange to recollect everything like that. It felt like years, but it wasn't even a month.

 

"That's... If you're not bullshiting, that's quite some story." The girl raised her glasses.

 

"I don't have a reason to lie." She squinted her eyes. "If it was for me to choose, I'd rather have it more peacefully and with less chaos inserted into this whole debacle."

 

"Debacle?" Coco raised a brow.

 

She shrugged at that. What did she have to say? This entire situation was just that, her struggling to try and help Ruby, to keep her happy... And fail.

 

The other girl just shook her head as she stood up. "Come on." She nodded towards the door leading to the balcony. Once more she wasn't sure where this was leading, metaphorically speaking, so she just decided to play along.

 

Once on the balcony, she looked down at the two girls. Coco was silent, so she assumed it's what she wanted for her to see, or for both of them to look at as they speak? Why were they here?

 

Below Velvet and Ruby were... Having a photo session. Although not the one that they came here for.

 

"Now show me your best rawr face!" The bunny girl's voice echoed as she moved around Ruby with the camera. The dog girl moved to pose as if she had claws and made some sort of face towards the camera lenses. Velvet moved all around her, making photos, as Ruby followed her. It most likely would look at the photo itself as if she was chasing the photographer in some manner.

 

What struck her most was just how... How much fun she was having, even from up here it was visible, that spark inside her silver eyes. Around her, or inside her house? She was like a withered plant, quiet and reserved. Here? She was full of energy, playful and just herself. True, she did saw it a few times inside of her, but it was but a glimpse, here? It was like an explosion in comparison.

 

She sighed sadly. "Perhaps keeping her was a mistake." She said quietly, but enough so that the other girl could hear. She was tired, and as such she didn't care that Coco was but a stranger to her. "For all this time I didn't see her this happy. I go for some time, and here she is, a different girl."

 

Her deep, depressing thoughts were cut as she felt her arm being painfully pinched. She jumped away from the source and frowned as she looked at the other girl. "What are you doing?!" She clenched her jaw.

 

"It's better than slapping you. You stupid girl?" Coco turned to lean against the balcony, her glasses once more covering her eyes, as if the entire pinching situation didn't occur.

 

"Are you insulting me?" She squinted her eyes.

 

"Are you doing it to yourself and that pup?" The girl lowered her glasses to look at her directly.

 

"What are you talking about." She was annoyed now, her anger mixed with confusion, and it annoyed her to no end.

 

"You gave that girl everything, and you think you didn't make her happy cause she didn't bounce all around and made silly faces. You're either stupid or you just needed for someone to pinch you. Still, better than being slapped, eh?" The girl smirked.

 

"I still don't understand." She crossed her arms.

 

"The foundations for this happiness you see, is the ground you gave this pup. She ain't bouncy because Velvet is taking photos of her. She's happy because she can be happy. Because she knows there's someone who takes care of her, and who she can trust. If you think she needs something else, do what you already did. Find some solution to make it better. She needs some company, is what I assume she needs." Coco casually made a hand gesture at the studio below.

 

"And what do you know about it. You just heard a story I told you." Weiss was annoyed, perhaps normally she would stop herself from saying these words, but at the moment? She didn't care.

 

Instead of accepting her informal challenge, the girl just let out a tired sigh, more heavily resting herself against the balcony balustrade.

 

"More than I would want to." From where she was standing, Weiss could see the girl closing her eyes. This baffled her a bit, as her annoyance disappeared, now replaced by curiosity.

 

"What do you mean?" She moved closer and placed herself in a similar position to that of the other girl.

 

"I almost didn't succeed because of these things, you know. I started doing my thing, and everyone praised me. I went to schools, got praises, top grades, everything. Did a little business schooling at the side, you know, not to get screwed by these guys who were in the business for even longer than I lived." The girl started, her eyes fixated at the two faunus girls below.

 

"At some point one of my friends got into the whole faunus activism. He convinced me that it really was an issue that people needed to be aware. He showed me things that I wish i didn't saw. Believe me, some people treat the faunus kind in a horrible way. They keep them in secret, they make them do things that... Just describing them would make you feel sick." Coco sighed and took off her beret.

 

"But he was a smart guy, he told me I should keep doing this, so I can get rich, get powerful, get contacts that could help me, all to help and aid the good cause. When people look for motivation, they usually are motivated by the love for what they do, money or fame. Me? I wanted to help, and I was gifted with tools to achieve it, so I decided to go with it." The girl chuckled, although it sounded very dry, almost forced.

 

"Is... That how you got Velvet?" Weiss was almost afraid to ask. She didn't want it to be true, for that bunny girl to be in such indescribable situation.

 

"Yeah... We saved her, her and many others. I don't know why I kept her. I just saw her and deep down I knew I had to." She shrugged. "But she's happy now. It doesn't matter what happened to her in the past, what nightmare fuel she lived through. Because now she has the foundations to be happy."

 

"But you have... I mean, you can offer her more than I can offer to Ruby." Her gaze lowered.

 

"Rich or poor, you can offer anyone love. It's all you need to give to a faunus. Love and trust, and they'll offer that back. You brought her here and while it wasn't your intent, she's having fun now. She has somewhere to sleep, food and she's not yet naked so she has clothes she can wear. Sure it's hard, but what in life is easy that pays off?" Coco shrugged.

 

Weiss chewed the inside of her cheek. She hated to be proven wrong like this, directly. She missed the cryptic speech which she could figure out on her own. "What about your offer?" She decided to change the subject.

 

"I'll give you that voucher." Coco turned to face her.

 

"...But?" She raised a brow.

 

"No buts, in exchange these photos those two are doing, I'll have your approval to use them." The girl reached with her hand towards her.

 

"What for?" She wouldn't agree to anything without knowing the full deal.

 

"For something, I don't know. She's a cute girl, and while I agree it would kill that charm she has if she was to pose in a bikini, she's cute enough to be posted on something else which can help our cause. Remember, this isn't for the stores I have, it's for the foundation.

 

Weiss eyed the offered hand. In the end she would earn the vouched without having Ruby to strip for the camera. Hopefully this Coco girl wouldn't use the photos of the dog girl for something mean spirited. Still, the story she heard from her, while she once more was perhaps naive, she believed it.

 

She reached out to shake Coco's hand. "Deal."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how to write Coco, so I just made this. Confident but caring. Hope people don't skin me alive for how I depicted her in this.
> 
> So yeah, a lot of you hoped for Ruby posing in sexy outfits, which I don't know why considering this story doesn't have pictures, but even than you'd be disappointed. Just a heads up that this was the plan from the start. I didn't change my mind on this suddenly because people told me how bad it would be if it happened or anything like that. I remember someone saying they would quit the story if I made Weiss smoke... I don't really change my stories because of stuff like that. 
> 
> About the Blake and Yang part of this chapter that didn't happen, I once more apologize. Plenty of people look towards that, and well... All I can say is that you'll have a whole chapter for that.
> 
> I just decided that I'll try to keep chapters simple, so one big deal for one chapter, not squeezing in two things into one, at least not for this story.
> 
> As an apology I can offer you this information – I have planned a bonus chapter that will be told from Ruby's perspective. And it's a chapter that will occur soon...ish. Depends how lazy I get with the next chapters for this story. So that's... Something to look forward to? Maybe?
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I did a bit of world building here, although the... Bad side of the world. Because I dislike perfect utopias, and well I had to make it clear that there are bad people and good people. While Neptune was an ass, there are people far worse. But then i tried to balance it with folks like Coco and Yang! So um...That's good right?
> 
> Tell me what you thought of this chapter! Leave a comment/review, it really helps to motivate me! To know that people enjoy my stuff!


	15. Silverware cutlery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess I’ll have to repeat myself. Still this won’t have Blake and Yang… I know I know, just… At this point just ignore any promises. I started writing this chapter, and I had these weird ideas that you’ll read and… Well I reached the limit I usually stop the chapters at for this story and here we are...

"Ruby I don't think they'll allow you to do that again, it's a lot of preparation and money spent to do that sort of thing." Weiss was conflicted. For one, she was happy to see excited Ruby, but on the other hand the girl was excited for something that wouldn't happen.

 

"Oh..." Her ears dropped, only to immiedietly raise up. "But we'll go there soon, right? To use the voucher and buy clothes for me, so it won't be bad if I ask her, right? Asking isn't bad." As they walked down the street towards the nearest bus stop, the dog girl was... Quite energetic. She hopped and spun around as she talked. It was refreshing, although unsettling. As if only now was she worried that the girl would trip or accidently walk onto the traffic, anything of that sort.

 

"I assume it's not bad to ask, but asking and no pleading, got that?" She tried to send the girl a stern look, but just the cheerful smile on her lips and the tail waggin broke that resolution, as a smiled bloomed on her lips.

 

"Alright!" The dog girl agreed loudly with a grin.

 

Weiss sighed, they got the voucher, but there was no time to visit the store, meaning she'll end up either way in her ruined dress or that hoodie when Yang comes tomorrow to visit. It's a bit stupid to cancel the visit just because of that.

 

This meant another visit to the store. Still, she could prepare and not go blindly. They had today's evening and tomorrow afternoon for themself, which she could do a bit of research on what clothes do they offer and around what price. While the voucher had a big number on it, she knew that it was all branded clothing, that always upped the prices. Still, perhaps they kept some of the so called last season stuff on a cut price? It was worth looking into.

 

"Weiss?" Ruby tugged at her sleeve.

 

"Yes?" She peered at the faunus girl.

 

"What's for dinner?" The girl asked curiously.

 

Oh right, food. "Uh, we'll go to the store and pick something." She shrugged. She forgot about the food part, and making some supplies, even if small.

 

"Why do you buy meals? Why don't you just cook?" The girl inquired further.

 

"I uh... I tried cooking and I just didn't really feel like I did it too well. It was lots of time and energy and I decided it's better if I pay a little bit more for my food and buy premade meals if I save some time." She shrugged. She disliked cooking, not because of her past, but simply it wasn't something she enjoyed doing, it also was just that. Too time consuming in her busy life.

 

"Oh." Weiss was afraid, not because the girl was angry, sad or disappointed, no. But because her expression turned into a thoughtful one. This meant that the cogwheels inside her head started to spin over... Something, what that was? She wasn't sure, but it was a strange reaction to what she just said to her.

 

The rest of the walk to the bus stop was spent in silence, also the dog faunus calmed down and was just quietly walking besides her, a somewhat ominous sign.

 

Still it was what it was, and she decided to just shrug it off, Ruby wasn't a trouble maker so far, so why accuse her of such now?

 

Once they got to the bus stop, she took out her phone to check how much time they have left till the next bus they had to take to get home at a reasonable time. Her research was interrupted as she heard an unfamiliar voice.

 

"Hello."

 

She looked up to see... Two police officers. One of them was a woman, although she was quite short, a head shorter than herself even. What was odd is that she looked very young, yet her hair was gray. She wore a polite smile and had purple eyes.

 

The other officer was much taller than the woman, although not much more than herself, perhaps around 20 centimeters (8 inches). He was a ginger, with short hair. He wore a more... Honest smile, although it gave a very sardonic vibe, just looking at it.

 

"Officer Goodwill and this is my partner, officer Bateman. We noticed that your faunus isn't wearing a collar, we'd like to scan the chip." She smiled, although her tone had clear authority behind it.

 

"Oh that's because she doesn't have a chip yet. I have the documents, I was told they should be enough in case something comes up and till the chip arrives." Weiss got her bag opened and got the folded document out, she started unfolding it before offering it to the woman. "Here."

 

"Mmhm..." She started to look through the document, although it seemed as if she was looking for something, and not really reading through it. "Can you give me the barcode scanner, Nick?" The police woman opened her hand towards her partner, her eyes still focused on the document.

 

The man took out a pen and placed it on Goodwill's hand. Weiss raised her brow at that and noticed the man winking her way. The female officer started to rub the pen against the paper, and it took her a moment before she noticed nothing was going on, only to look at the object in her hand.

 

"Dang it Nick, I told you, we're at work, we can't be fooling around!" She crossed her arms as she turned to face the man, who smiled sheepishly and just spread his arms. "Now give me the barcode scanner." She pushed the pen against him, which the man took, only to offer her the proper instrument she requested.

 

"Thank you." She squinted her eyes as she sent the man a glare, only to face Weiss. "I apologize, my partner can be... Playful." She sent the man another glare, only to move the scanner along some part of the document, it gave a beep and the woman looked at the small screen, only to nod after a few seconds and offer the Schnee the documents.

 

"Thank you, everything seems to be alright. Have a good day miss." Officer Goodwill smiled at the white haired girl one last time, before grabbing the collar of her partner and dragging him off. "And you, we'll have a talk."

 

There was an audible yelp from the man, although he still managed to wink at Weiss one more time, before both of them disappeared behind a corner.

 

The Schnee just stood there, flabbergasted. "What happened?" Ruby's voice made her snap out of her confusion. She looked at the redhead and shrugged.

 

"I have no idea."

 

oooOOOooo

 

Perhaps this was a sign of some sort of monotony settling in, or Weiss wished that was the case. She was laying with her laptop on her lap, Ruby curled up against her as she browsed slowly through the site of the clothing store she had a voucher for. Luckly this just required her one hand to do it efficiently, as it was just operating the mouse, so her other hand could lazaly stroke through the dog girl's hair and play with her ears.

 

There was a catalogue for things that were, to put it simply, old, but she wasn't sure if it was available to purchase on the spot, or if it had to be ordered or if it even was possible to get at this point. As such she decided to make two lists. One in case it was possible, and the other in case she had to buy things for it's full price.

 

Prefering to start with the worse case scenario, she started with the more expensive variant. Just like she thought, it provided to be the most difficult scenario, but not for the reasons she thought it would be. What was the issue?

 

She had no idea what Ruby would like.

 

She needed some sort of lead, anything really. Perhaps at least colors? Her eyes moved between the screen and the sleeping girl. Was asking her too simple of a solution? It wasn't a secret that the girl was often answering to please her and not really speaking her mind.

 

She sighed. Still, how else was she to discover it. She opened a site with the basic color list and turned the laptop so that the screen was facing the faunus. She shook the girl gently till she saw her wake up. "Ruby? Wake up, Ruby. I need to ask you something. Pick colors you like from this chart." She saw the dog girl blink a few times as she just woke up and had no idea what was going on.

 

Her brain had to decide on something as her sleepy eyes moved towards the screen. Her hand moved up and poked three spots on the screen. "This this and this." She yawned and moved back to sleep and her previous position.

 

Weiss blinked at that, as it happened in less than a minute, and here she was thinking it would take her a good chunk of this evening to get any useful information out of Ruby. Perhaps it was because she just woke up? Whatever it was, it was worth to note that for later.

 

She almost forgot about the colors. She looked at the chart and wasn't really surprised. Black red and... White? Perhaps a little bit. Unless the white part was because she herself prefered white and blues? Still it was better than she predicted.

 

With that the hunt began. She took out a small note pad she used for some quick notes that had to be taken on a physical paper, and a pen. She began to note each and every clothing article together with the code number if that was necessary. While she opted to try and pick something in black and red, she sneaked in a pajamas of blue colors, just because there was no reason to wear gloomy colors to bed.

 

Outside of that she made sure to have some clothing for colder days, complete with accessories. She didn't know there were hats for faunus like Ruby or even rabbits. Something for warm days, and the most annoying days in which you never knew if it was more on the cold side or was it more on the warm side, the joys of fall and spring.

 

It wasn't that bad, but of course in case those clothes get dirt or ruined or anything, there would be no replacement. The situation got a bit better in case of the cheaper option, but only barely so. Still, while out of context this seemed bad, it was quite the opposite.

 

Afterall, they'd get free clothing, and all it costed her was an afternoon really. Perhaps some thoughts as well, but that was less important right now.

 

oooOOOooo

 

The thinking part came once the time to go to bed arrived. It wasn't the first time she heard that all she needs is to provide Ruby with is a safe place and for her to know that she's loved in order for the girl to be happy. The issue was, how to achieve that.

 

How subtle the gestures had to be to make it clear for Ruby, or rather how unsubtle? Or would being too open about it be considered like a bad idea just as being too subtle? She knew how cat faunus acted, although it might just be Blake and she simply generalized the entire species of faunus as one. Still there had to be some sort of clues, right?

 

Why was it so important, and why now? Because it was the only thing that made the idea of keeping Ruby as a... Well, good idea. It's not that the idea of getting rid of her was appealing, quite the opposite. She just was having... Doubts about her ability to keep the girl happy, and not just existing alive. Worst way of living.

 

She had an idea, mostly inspired by what Ruby did. Since she did it to apparently show her affection, it wouldn't be bad to mimic that, since it was something the dog girl would understand, right? As she was leaving the bathroom she worked around the details of said plan.

 

"Ruby, it's bed time, are you ready?" She focused her gaze on the dog girl, who turned her attention away from the radio and gave a nod.

 

Weiss moved to bed and laid down, taking her usual spot. She waited for the faunus girl to turn off the radio and take her place. She took a deep breath before asking. "Ruby? Do you mind if we slept... Differently tonight?"

 

"Like with our eyes open?" The redhead tilted her head to the side.

 

"What?" Weiss raised a brow.

 

"Well, you want to sleep differently, but how can you do it differently otherwise? We could also do it by standing up, but that's not very comfortable, I don't think." Ruby frowned.

 

She got confused by the dog girl's words, but before she could speak any further, she just shook her head to clear her mind. "No, no Ruby. I just mean... Differently. Do you mind turning away from me?"

 

She saw Ruby's ears drop at that. "You don't like it when I hug you?"

 

"No no!" Weiss bit her lower lip. This was going bad, and it was going bad quickly. "I... Just trust me, alright? I promise you might like it." She nodded... Promise of a possibility, what a great promise. Luckly the dog girl either didn't noticed that or decided to ignore it, as she tilted her head curiously to the side.

 

"Alright." She finally nodded and turned around as she laid down to sleep. "Um... Goodnight, I guess." She said.

 

Weiss gulped as she looked at her. This was unexpected, why did she feel this way. Nervous and anxious, but about what? She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, although it didn't help much, it was enough to let her do what she planned.

 

She laid down close to Ruby and slowly wrapped her arms around the girl. After a few seconds the girl had to understand her intention as she wiggled for both of them to get comfortable. Once that done, she pulled the girl close to herself, as she made sure to cling to the other girl with her whole body.

 

Only once that was done, it occurred inside her mind, wasn't this what people considered spooning to be like? She stopped herself from shaking her head, not wanting to disturb the faunus with that. It was different, since they were in a different type of relation. A pet and owner type of relation.

 

This calmed her down a bit, as she allowed herself to relax. With each breath she could smell the girl's shampoo... Her own shampoo, of course. Still it was... Nice. The warmth was also pleasant and after a few moments she noticed that her own breathing was in sync with that of Ruby.

 

Since having her hair this close to her face was a tad annoying, she decided to lower herself just enough so that she could sneak past the girl's hair and gently brush her neck with her nose, hopefully the dog girl wouldn't get annoyed by the feeling of her own breathing.

 

She waited for any sort of reaction from her to know that it indeed was the case. She felt her soft skin against her nose, she could almost feel it with her lips. She gulped, her throat felt so dry, perhaps she could go drink some water... But that meant leaving this position, and it would be such a waste.

 

While she waited for the girl to give some sort of sign that this position was less comfortable for her than it was for Weiss, the Schnee girl slowly fell asleep, a smile blossoming on her lips.

 

oooOOOooo

 

Weiss stirred a bit as something was missing. While she wanted to just go back to sleep, her mind would nudge her about it, while being vague what it even was. This of course just made her grow more annoyed by the second. Finally she opened her eyes, only to see... Silver.

 

It took her a while to understand that it had to be eyes. Ruby's eyes. Speaking of which, she was so close. She felt the sides of their noses touch, and she still had her arms around the redhead. While it was an odd sight to behold, she decided it wasn't a bad one to wake up to. Quite the opposite, it felt... Good, for some reason.

 

Hopefuly the faunus girl wouldn't...

 

...That's right, faunus.

 

Her eyes open wide as she jumped away from Ruby. The dog girl sat up in confusion, not understanding what just happened. "W-Weiss? Is something wrong?"

 

"N-No, no just... W-Why were you so close to me when we... I woke up?" The Schnee looked at her, it felt weird, wrong. She understood that they had to share the bed, but... This was too intimate. She shook her head.

 

"Oh um... You kept moving closer and closer and at some point I was at the edge so I didn't have any choice." Her ears dropped down. "I'm sorry."

 

Weiss looked over at the scene. It was true, Ruby was at the edge of the bed and... That meant she... Was it because of that weird idea she had last night? She shook her head again. "No, no it's my fault." she sighed. "I guess it's because of..." Of what? Her spooning with the girl? No, that wasn't it. Since they were in a different sort of relation, it couldn't be that. A hug? "...Of how we fell asleep last night. I guess we shouldn't do that, otherwise I might push you off the bed." She rubbed the back of her neck at that.

 

"Oh... But I liked it." The dog girl once more sounding disappointed.

 

"I um... Well, from time to time, but not too often. I really don't want to push you off the bed." She cleared her throat. "A-Anyway, I'll go wash myself, feel free to turn on the radio. It'll be your turn after I'm done. Remember we have guests today." She nodded as she stood up, eager to change the topic.

 

Once she almost ran to the bathroom and locked herself inside, she rested her back against the door. With a sigh she covered her face with her hands.

 

What was wrong with her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, once more I’m sorry. Look at the bright side, I’ll have an entire chapter JUST for them visiting! 
> 
> I also tried to write a valentine's day story but I decided that writing any sort of themed stories around a certain date is not something I want. I just felt pressured as hell so no valentines story… It did brew like 3 story ideas I’ll do some oneshots. Sadly at least 2 out of 3 ideas I had won’t be whiterose, they’ll actually be weird crackships. Why? Because I’m weird.
> 
> So anyway about the story… Weiss is weird huh? Getting like this with a faunus, so totally gross am i rite guyz?! huh?! Right…
> 
> Also I don’t regret that stupid police scene and that oh so not very subtle reference.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I encourage to leave a review/comment as it is a reward on itself and motivates me greatly!
> 
> See you next chapter!


	16. Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I once more apologize that this chapter won't consist of Yang and Blake, but the reason is clear, as in reality it will in fact have them both but I'm just writing this in hopes I'll troll these few people who were really hoping for a Yang and Blake chapter... Now enjoy!

Weiss wasn't sure if she should have got some alcohol, nothing fancy, or rather strong, as fancy was never on the list of things she got, since she couldn't afford anything like that. Yet she decided against it, for a few reasons. One of them was that Blake disliked the smell, second was she wasn't sure if Ruby would enjoy the smell and third was that... Well, it could affect how they behaved and she didn't want to make this awkward for Ruby.

 

Still she wanted to provide something when her guests would arrive, so she decided to grab some sodas. Once more, nothing fancy, a fair balance between taste and price... As much as sodas have taste outside of being sugarated fizzly water.

 

There wasn't really anything to set up. Her small apartment was always clean, Ruby's addition didn't change much since she was usually sitting in front of the radio or laying besides her. Snacks were out of question since food would be provided by Yang. Besides setting up snacks would consist of getting some salty snacks into a bowl.

 

Preparations done, she nodded to herself. It was always good to double check on everything. Just as she was done doing that, she heard the doorbell. She smiled, she missed Yang, and having to deal with all the issues around Ruby's adoption made her skip on plenty of lectures and classes where she could at least chat with the blonde.

 

She moved to open the door. "Hello you two, I was starting to get worried you got lost." She greeted them as she let the two inside.

 

"Blake was being picky about the oriental places we decided to hit up." The blonde thumbed at the cat faunus behind her.

 

"I just like my sushi high quality, thank you very much." The black haired girl frowned for a moment as she sent a glare towards her owner, only to smile once she looked at Weiss. "Hello."

 

"Uh well you got here so that's what matters... You're holding hands?" She raised her brow as she noticed that the two girls did in fact had their fingers intertwined with one another.

 

"Of course, it's for safety. You never held your faunus hand?" Blake asked as she tilted her head.

 

"I..." She frowned, there was that one time. "I guess I had."

 

"See? Told you." Blake responded.

 

"I guess you did." Weiss nodded, although she couldn't help but think that the cat faunus words weren't really meant for her, as she saw Blake glance at Yang with a smirk, to which the blonde just rolled her eyes.

 

"Oh right, this is Ruby." She turned around to... See nobody. Actually it took her but a moment to notice that the dog girl, or rather a pair of ears sticking out from behind the bed, as the girl was trying to hide.

 

"So it was just your imagination!" Yang exclaimed with a grin.

 

She just rolled her eyes at that. "Ruby, what are you doing? Come out from there and say hello." She crossed her arms as she waited for the girl to quit her silly game.

 

The redhead slowly raised and moved their way, although she was clearly unhappy about it in an embarrassed way. Once she got close to them, Weiss wrapped an arm around the dog girl and pulled her closer. "This is Ruby. Ruby, this is Yang." She released the girl from her one arm grasp.

 

"Well aren't you a pretty girl." The blonde grinned as she leaned enough to level with the girl. She placed both her hands on the girl's hair as she ruffled her hair and scratched her ears. "No wonder Weiss likes you so much, I'd have two if you were a cookie." She chuckled.

 

The redhead at least warmed up to the idea of knowing Yang, as she smiled at the affectionate head and ear rubs, her pose also relaxed. Weiss let out an almost silent sigh at that. The reason she just stood there and waited was because such was the procedure. She could only introduce Ruby to a human, it was the owner's mean to introduce to her faunus, especially other faunus, unless they meet without the owners being close by.

 

Speaking of which, Yang moved her hands and stepped to the side. "This is Blake, my lucky black cat."

 

At that the black haired girl stepped forward and offered her hand. "I'm Blake, nice to meet you."

 

"I'm Ruby." The dog girl offered her own hand, and as soon as they shook them, Yang wrapped an arm around both of them.

 

"Well that done! Let's eat, I'm starving!" She grinned and looked at the Schnee girl, who just blinked a few times in surprise, as she spaced out for a good moment there.

 

"I uh... Right, let's." She smiled.

 

oooOOOooo

 

"I think I need a fork." Everyone stopped their chattering as they looked at the source of the voice, Ruby.

 

"What's wrong, dear?" Weiss looked at the dog faunus raising a brow.

 

"I can't eat with these." The redhead raised a pair of chopsticks.

 

"I thought I showed you how to?" She tilted her head slightly to the side.

 

"You did, I placed the first like this, and take the second and it's not working!" The girl attempted to grab a piece of vegetable between the two chopsticks, although at that point she was frustrated and it was more like she flailed them around more than trying to actually use them.

 

The Schnee let out a sigh. Perhaps it was bad of her to assume that the girl wouldn't have this much issue with it, and there was some more demonstrating to be had. The worst of it was that it was her fault that Ruby was frustrated now.

 

"Here." She settled her own food to the side and moved to sit behind the girl. She saw her ears perk up at that, but she relaxed as she felt her owner behind herself.

 

Weiss settled her chin on top of the girl's shoulder to get some sort of vision on what's in front. "You need to calm down." She moved to place her hand on top of Ruby's. "Now place the first chopstick like I showed you." She nodded as the girl did just that. "Now, gently take the other one between your fingers, just like that." She guided the dog girl with her own hand.

 

She was glad that Yang and Blake remained silent, she wanted for the girl to be focused on the task at hand, later? Later they could say whatever. As long as Ruby would feel accomplished. "Now we'll grab a piece of something." She guided the hand down.

 

She immediately felt the girl doing a quick motion to grab said piece and hear a quiet, muffled sound of frustration once it ended up just like before. "No, you're trying to do it too fast. You're learning, Ruby. Now try again, slowly. Just follow my movement." She guided the girl slowly down, and moved her fingers to make her understand that now was the time to use the second chopstick.

 

"Good girl, now keep it steady, not too strong or it'll slip. Just don't overdo, relax and remember to do it slowly and steadily." She observed the girl hold the piece between the chopstick, getting satisfied with the result she nodded. "Alright, now to eat it." She slowly raised the hand together with Ruby. "Careful not to let it go. Now open your mouth." She observed as the redhead parted her lips and accepted the food delivered there via the chopstick delivery group.

 

"Good girl!" She grinned as she ruffled Ruby's hair. She felt her tail wagle and hit her legs, but she ignored it. "Now let's try again." She once more guided the girl towards the food.

 

While she half feed, half taught the girl how to eat using chopsticks, she didn't see the smirks that both Yang and Blake exchanged, as they quietly observed the two.

 

oooOOOooo

 

"You punched him?!" Yang bursted in shock.

 

"Not punch him! I just... Slaped him." Weiss rubbed her arm as she looked to the side.

 

"Ha! I'd pay money to see that." The blonde grinned. "To see Weiss Schnee brutally assault another person, it's like, nobody would believe me if I told them."

 

"I didn't brutally assault anyone ugh, I just slapped him across the face." The Schnee rolled her eyes.

 

"All to defend Ruby's good name?" Blake inquired with a soft smile.

 

"Well... I guess." At that she rubbed the back of her neck. When the cat faunus put it like that, it felt a bit weird.

 

"Hah, how do you feel about that, Ruby? Your owner being all chivalrous to defend your good name. She's your knight in shining armor." Yang nudged the dog girl, who just blushed as her ears moved down. Although Weiss did notice that her tail waggled behind her.

 

"Yang, don't embarass her." Blake nudged her owner with an elbow.

 

"Fine fine, besides I'm not." Yang's smile suddenly shrunk. "You know it'll make things complicated."

 

"I know." She let out a deep sigh. "I think I knew back then, but... You know, I wouldn't do anything else, even if I could go back in time. He can be a lousy flirt all he wants towards me, but he dragged Ruby into it. Hell, if he dragged any of my friends in it, I'd do the exact same thing."

 

"Hey, whatever happens, we'll be there for you, isn't that right, Blakey?" Yang wrapped an arm around the cat faunus.

 

"Yes." Came a simple reply, followed by a soft smile from the black haired girl.

 

"Are you going to be in trouble because of me?" Ruby asked, her ears dropping down once more.

 

"Naw, she isn't. Just some jerk needs to learn his place. Don't worry about it. Did Weiss managed to sign you up for some courses yet?" The blonde moved closer to sit next to the dog girl.

 

"No." The redhead shook her head.

 

"Aw, that's a shame, you'll like it there. Plenty of new things to learn, and I'm sure that each day you'll find a way to make Weiss proud of your accomplishments." Yang nodded as she continued.

 

Weiss tilted her head, but smiled. She was glad that her friend knew how to handle Ruby and distract her from the topic. If it was her, she'd just try to awkwardly try to make sure the dog girl wasn't feeling guilty, most likely failing and just the girl saying she no longer feels that way, while in reality she still would.

 

oooOOOooo

 

She was putting it to the side for far too long, and at this rate, both Yang and Blake would leave before she asks them. She stopped herself from sighing, not wanting to alarm anyone. Still, she had to do what she had to do. "Hey, Ruby? Actually, why don't you show Yang that hoodie you're usually wearing."

 

"Naw that's no-" Yang's reply was stopped as a hand landed on top of her lips, Weiss wearing a fake grin as she looked at the confused dog girl.

 

"Yes, see? Now go change into it to show it off." Ruby looked between everyone, but just shrugged as she didn't want to disobey Weiss. She stood up and moved to the bathroom to do as she was told.

 

Yang moved her hand away and raised a brow. Yet, before she could ask what was going on, Weiss started to explain. "I need to ask you two something. It's a... Favor. I've been discussing it with someone and... They suggested that Ruby is lonely being here all alone, so I thought that I could bring her over before school? I mean, you said Blake usually sits around the house all day, and comes out when it's getting dark so..."

 

"You want me to babysit Ruby?" Blake raised a brow.

 

"Well, if you're not too busy. I mean, you don't have a job, right?" Weiss raised a brow.

 

"She actually does -" Once more Yang's mouth was covered with a hand, as Blake sent her a glare. The Schnee tilted her head, even more curious now.

 

Yang just pushed the hand away. "Alright, next hand that tries to cover my mouth, will meet my teeth."

 

"So what is it that you do?" The white haired girl inquired as she focused her gaze on the cat faunus, ignoring Yang's comment.

 

"...If I agree to keep an eye on Ruby, will you stop being so curious?" Blake frowned.

 

"Uh... Deal." Weiss nodded with a smile. It would come out sooner or later, she was sure of it.

 

"Here!" Ruby announced as she suddenly appeared next to them, wearing the hoodie.

 

She facepalmed as she noticed the redhead. "Ruby, when I said wear the hoodie, I meant to just put it on... Not JUST wear the hoodie and nothing else... Bathroom, change, now!" She pointed at the door leading to said room. The dog girl blushing and scampering towards the pointed direction.

 

Weiss just shook her head, as Yang laughed at the entire situation. She needs to learn to give Ruby precise commands.

 

oooOOOooo

 

"Boop." Yang booped the nose of the redhead, who just grimaced and leaned back away from the blonde. Although it didn't stop her, as she reached towards her to do it again.

 

"Stop that." Ruby said with a frown.

 

"Stop what, this?" She asked as she booped her nose again. At that the dog faunus covered her nose.

 

"Yes!" She answered.

 

"How about this?" The blonde asked, poking her forehead.

 

"No!" Her other hand moved to cover her forehead.

 

"Gosh, then I guess here?" She poked the girl's sides and belly. At that both of Ruby's arms went to defend that, which uncovered her face and allowed for Yang to boop her nose again.

 

At that Ruby snarled at her, to show that she was reaching her limit, although it didn't look as intimidating as her mind would make it, still it was a clear sign that she was on edge of defending herself.

 

"Ohohoho, did I find the anger button? Is it... Here?!" The blonde asked, once more booping her nose a few times.

 

That of course had its effect, as Ruby growled and attempted to tackle the human girl. Yang didn't really cover or try to avoid it, no, she grabbed the girl as she was moving towards her, and using the momentum of the dog girl's tackle, settled Ruby over her lap, keeping the girl in place with one of her arms, as the hand of her other arm started to quickly scratch the faunus back. "Aw, you're not a bad girl that bites people when she gets angry, right? You're a good girl that just likes her back having scratched."

 

Yang grinned as her action made the dog girl relax, all that anger suddenly disappearing as she just laid there enjoying the motion of the blonde girl.

 

Weiss was watching it from the kitchen part of her small apartement, a soft sigh escaping her lips. Although she had no time for any deep thoughts, as Blake's soft voice got her attention.

 

"Mind if I help you with the tea?" She smiled softly.

 

"I... uh, of course." Weiss's smile was delayed as she surprised to see Blake besides her.

 

"You seem like something is troubling you. Is it about Ruby?" The cat faunus tilted her head.

 

Her smile disappeared at that as she looked to the side. "Yes and no... It's more about me." She shrugged.

 

"You?" Blake tilted her head the other way, the surprise on her face mostly from not expecting that sort of an answer.

 

"I saw people she just meet make her happy, yet here I am, being with her all this time and all she ever was around me was a timid girl." She shook her head.

 

"You mean you never made her happy?" The catgirl frowned at that.

 

"Not like that, I don't think so." Weiss turned around to face the kettle, she looked at it, expecting it to boil the water any moment now.

 

"How about when you told her that you'll keep her?" Blake leaned against the counter as she peered into her face.

 

"I guess so, but I don't think that counts." She shrugged.

 

"And when you finally told her everything was settled? How about that silly radio? I didn't see it last time we were here, did you buy it for her?" The black haired girl inquired further.

 

"Yes, she said that she liked to listen to radio back... Back in her old home." She took a deep breath, she disliked talking about Ruby's past, as sparse as her knowledge about it was.

 

"Did it make her happy?" The catgirl saw that the water was starting to boil, so she moved to the side to make room for the human girl.

 

"I guess it did." She sighed.

 

"I think you're just jealous." Blake nodded.

 

"Jealous? Over what? And why would I even be jealous?" She frowned at that, it was perhaps the most ridiculous ida anyone gave her over this, her own mind included.

 

"That someone made Ruby happy." Once more the catgirl nodded, sure of herself.

 

"I don't care who or what makes Ruby happy, I just want her to be happy, and I question my ability to make her happy." She crossed her arms.

 

"Mmm... Perhaps you're right, this isn't jealousy, forget about it. At least now you know that you did make her happy. Besides I can tell you that she is happy. Give her some time." Blake smiled.

 

At that she smiled back at the catgirl, no reason to get mad over something like that. "Thanks Blake, now let's make some tea before it'll get too late." They both giggled at that, as they both got aware of how this small discussion distracted them from the real reason they were in the kitchen in the first place.

 

oooOOOooo

 

"Stay safe you two, it's late!" Weiss said as they were standing near the entrance doors.

 

"Yes, yes, we'll just take a bus and get home in no time, no reason to worry this much." Yang smirked.

 

"Excuse me for worrying." She crossed her arms and pouted as she looked to the side.

 

"Aw, well it's appreciated." The blonde moved her hand to pat the Schnee on the head.

 

She moved her own hands to push away Yang's and fix her hair. "No need to pat me, I'm not a faunus!" She squinted her eyes as she looked at the taller girl.

 

"You'd make a cute one though! Like a... cat!" Yang snickered, only to yelp as she felt getting pinched by her own faunus, who now was glaring at her as well. "Ugh, I can't win! And I'm surrounded! Ruby! Help!"

 

The redhead blinked surprised, not sure what to do, after a few seconds she tugged at Weiss's sleeve. "Don't hurt Yang, too much." She nodded, proud at her assistance.

 

The blonde just rolled her eyes at that. "Gosh, thanks for the aid, pup." Although it was followed with a smile.

 

Ruby just smiled back, her tail waggin. Weiss wasn't sure if she was playing along or did she really think she was praised in an honest way. Perhaps she should start giving Ruby benefit of the doubt.

 

"Anyway we should be going or we'll get late for the last bus. I'll see you tomorrow Weiss, and hope to see you soon as well Ruby." Yang waved, as both her and Blake started to leave.

 

"Good night." Blake offered with a soft smile, only to follow in steps after her owner.

 

"Take care you two! See you soon!" She waved.

 

"Good bye." Ruby offered, and with that the door closed.

 

Weiss let out a sigh, now she felt like her entire energy was sucked out of her. Not that she minded the visit, quite the opposite. Just social gatherings always made her feel exhausted after they were done with.

 

She looked at the dog girl. "So what do you think about Yang and Blake?"

 

"I like 'em." She smiled, her tail wagglin behind her.

 

She just smiled back at Ruby. She wasn't feeling like going deeper into details, so this had to be enough.

 

"Come on, let's get ready to bed." She patted her head and moved further inside.

 

oooOOOooo

 

Later that day, when it was bedtime, she laid there not really able to sleep. In contrary to feeling tired and exhausted, she just couldn't succumb to slumber.

 

Reason for that was simple, one word on her mind.

 

Jealousy.

 

Was she really jealous? She sighed as she turned to the side to face the dog girl. She was already asleep, curled up in her usual position. The clinginess did get less intrusive after a few nights and Weiss was glad for that. While she enjoyed being close to this girl, she also liked a bit of room to move and wiggle in her sleep.

 

She raised her hand to gently brush her fingers through Ruby's hair, moving them further to gently scratch at one of her ears. She heard the girl murmur something and smile in her sleep, which in return made her smile as well.

 

Jealousy, was it really that? Yes and no. It was jealousy that others could make her happy, while she couldn't. It wasn't that others made Ruby happy, she was alright with that. As long as the dog girl was happy, she couldn't care less.

 

This relieved her a tiny bit. While there was still a mystery to uncover, at least it was enough for her to go to sleep now.

 

She can spend some other day on thinking why was she even jealous in the first place.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter would be a day sooner but I found a game I really enjoyed and... Well found out why I enjoyed it.
> 
> At some point I just gave up with this chapter. I knew that whatever I would write it wouldn't be enough to give justice to what would happen with all the RWBY peeps in one place. Still I tried my best, so hope I didn't disappoint that much.
> 
> But this chapter had what I think was lacking, so rwby interaction, as well as Weiss and Ruby interaction.
> 
> Oh right, I started writing this and I thought I wouldn't have anything important to really say, but I did have something to say.
> 
> I'll take a breather from this story, there's a bonus chapter ahead that I will write, but then I'll just step back and think about the best way to further this story. While I know some people think this means that the story will be off for like months, it means weeks at best. While I update like a spastic, I tend to write a lot because I just enjoy doing it.
> 
> Although I really want to move my Black cat and white rabbit story, only to finish it at some point and write the sequel that nobody will read because it'll be about OC's, but still!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Swarm me with reviews/comments! IT'S AN ORDER! (no but really, I love it when you folks leave a review/comment!)


	17. Friendship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you all say "Ugh! You said last chapter will be last before some sort of break! Also you smell bad and you're ugly" I just wanted to say, first of all, I smell very nice, thank you very much, although I can agree with the ugly part. 
> 
> There is a reason however! But we'll get to that after the actual chapter
> 
> So I was supposed to say here how I'm sorry that this chapter is just under 3k words and how it was supposed to be a follow up to the last chapter ... But I started writing it and HERE WE ARE, with 3k+ words. I hate myself. As to why I wrote it? I'll explain after the chapter itself. Enjoy!

"So what do you want, Neptune." She crossed her arms. He invited her to a small cafe, and she didn't like the fact she had to skip a lecture just to meet with him. Although she understood the importance of this meeting, it was what Yang warned her about.

 

"Weiss, my snow angel, why so harsh. Can't we just enjoy each other's company." He smiled, a smug sort of smile, the one that makes people grow violent. She of course knew it was just to toy with her, and she wouldn't have any of it.

 

"In that case we'll have to reschedule this lovely meeting, since I might still have enough time to attend to the lecture I skipped just to get here." She said and started to move.

 

"Oh very well, if you wish we'll get straight to business." He tapped his fingers against the table, still not without a smile.

 

"Good, I really don't have time for idle chit-chat." She moved back to sit down on the chair.

 

"For claiming to be a patient woman, you surely don't like to show that." The boy let out a fake disappointed sigh. "Very well, the reason I asked you to meet up, is to simply try and solve this issue that grew between us."

 

"Really, I never knew there was any wrong between us." She smiled sweetly at him. Two could play this game, and while she knew she shouldn't cross the line too much, nobody said she couldn't bend it a little bit for her own entertainment.

 

"Tsk, it involves your rude and violent behaviour." He nodded. "It hurts me, both physically and metaphorically, that you've grown so violent. I assume it's because of that blonde girl. She has such a bad influence on you."

 

At that she squinted her eyes. "I'd slap you with or without her influence, so try again."

 

"See? So violent! But because I have a soft spot for you, I decided that I wouldn't sue you in any way. No, I decided that I would try and solve this peacefully, like grown ups should." He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arm, a smile blossomed on his lips, something that Weiss didn't like about this specific one. He looked like a satisfied, fat cat leaning over a trapped mouse.

 

"Don't make make me wait for this amazing, adult solution you came up with." She was already sick of this meeting, and perhaps for once he was right, Yang did influence her, and the influence told her to throw a chair at him.

 

"I simply decided to sue your faunus." He grinned.

 

At that she felt blood be drained from her face, as she most likely looked as pale as a ghost. Her jaw clenched as she waited in silence for the joke part to come in. But none came. "She did nothing." She finally managed to say through her clenched teeth.

 

"No, but I could prove it was her. Nothing a good lawyer couldn't handle." He nodded.

 

"What do you want." She asked, her voice as cold as all the nicknames she had through her entire life.

 

"Ah, you've always been a clever girl, it's part of your charm." He winked at her. "Alas I understand I can't have you, so I decided that I'd simply take what's yours to at least have a little taste, since it was so close to you."

 

She raised a brow at that, what was this guy on about. "What are you talking about?"

 

"Well you see, I want Ruby. Not forever of course, don't worry. I simply want to borrow her for... Let's say a night." He nodded.

 

It was as if the cogwheels inside her head got stuck, and it took them awhile to grind through whatever made them stuck in the first place. Once that happened the realization hit her. "What?!" She slammed her hand against the table. "That's wrong on ... So many levels. She's a faunus, and she's a young girl, and you want to defile her like that?!" She clenched her fists at that. A thin line from just punching the guy.

 

"Oh my, such a lively response. Seeing you be so passionate about that girl, I think I'll hold to that offer. I'll either sue her and win the case, since unlike you I can afford a good lawyer, or I'll enjoy her myself. You know what the first option will do, correct? She'll get to a resocialization program, and you know how bad that works in human prisons, imagine how awful that is for a faunus? I think you do. You won't be able to adopt her again even after whatever sentence she receives, and just imagine how many people will even look her way once they know she has that in her adoption card. Oh right, no one will." At this point Neptune's expression was impish, as if the devil itself came into this boy and replaced his soul with himself.

 

Weiss took a deep breath to calm herself. "I'll do it myself. Just don't get Ruby involved." She said calmly.

 

"I think it's too late for that, Weiss my snow princess. You need a lesson to not be such a stuck up and recognize a nice guy when you see him, instead of acting cold and unapproachable. It's one of the two." He smirked and casually reached for the drink card in front of him to look at what they offered in the cafe.

 

Weiss closed her eyes. This was like a greek tragedy play, where she had no good options. Of course unlike character in a play, she could do things outside of the script. She needed time. The first option wouldn't buy her that time, as Neptune was in a mood to just sue her on the spot. Yet she could play for time if she picked the second option.

 

Like hell she would give Ruby to this pervert. Yet it could give her time to find a solution. Sell her apartment to just hire a lawyer for herself, anything really. She'd rather stab him then let him defile and destroy the innocence of the sweet creature that was Ruby.

 

"Fine, but I want time to break this to Ruby." She said coldly with a frown.

 

"So you agree to give Ruby to me? This went easier than I thought." He grinned.

 

"Yes I..." She was interrupted.

 

"No!" Came a voice from behind, and Weiss's eyes went wide in shock.

 

"Ruby?!" She turned around to see the redhead standing there, tears in her eyes.

 

"How could you! You... You sold me out like this!" She could see tears starting to run down the girl's cheeks.

 

"Ruby, no! I'll explain, please! It's not like that." She tried to stand up and approach the girl, but she found herself frozen to the spot, like her legs refused to cooperate.

 

"I don't care!" She reached towards her pocket and extracted the... The adoption document. "I'd rather be in the pound than ever have an owner like you! Leave me alone!" With that said, she tore the document, letting the paper scraps fall to the ground.

 

Weiss looked shocked as the white piece of paper slowly dropped on the floor, it distracted her from the fact that Ruby was running towards the entrance door of the cafe. She forced herself to get up and run after the girl.

 

"Ruby! Wait!" She called after her, watching the door close. She rushed through them and stood at the small stairs leading to the cafe she just exited. There were thousands of people walking through the streets, crowds of them moving in, squeezed together.

 

"Ruby!" She called, there was no chance she could find her, not with this crowd. "Ruby..." She repeated and dropped to her knees as she hugged herself. "Please don't leave me."

 

oooOOOooo

 

Weiss opened her eyes and sat up. She looked around, it was her apartment, and it was still dark. She looked at the clock, as it showed three in the morning. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her breath. Then she felt it.

 

Moisture dripping on her hands. She looked down as if having to see it, to believe it. She was crying, and only once her brain caught up to that, she felt a sob escape her. She clenched her teeth to try and stop herself from crying. She moved her legs over the bed and sat at the edge, hugging herself. She tried to muffle the sobs and whimpers that tried to escape her body.

 

This was just a dream, another stupid dream. None of it was true, nothing happened, it was just inside her head, just her stress and worries manifesting itself, finding some sort of outlet to seek relief.

 

Yet it felt so real.

 

Even she knew that Neptune wasn't this malicious. He was just a loud mouth, he spoke before he thought at best, hence why she slapped him. He wasn't some sort of mastermind planning on ruining both her and Ruby's life. At worst he'd force her to go out on a date with him, but he wouldn't care about Ruby.

 

Ruby...

 

She stopped herself from turning around to look at the dog girl. She knew that if she saw her now, it would just make things harder for her. This was the worst part of this dream, it took but a moment, yet it was what made her this shaken up.

 

Ruby leaving her, feeling betrayed, feeling cheated, thinking she was a monster, not wanting to be anywhere near her. How did this came to be like this, for her to care this much.

 

"Weiss?" She tensed as she heard her voice. Great, she woke up.

 

"Go back to sleep, Ruby. I'll go to sleep in a moment as well." She tried to control her voice, but it was hard. It still came out way more shaken then she wanted it to.

 

"You're crying." It came more as a statement than a question. She had to stop herself from cursing out loud, afraid that even muttering wouldn't go unnoticed at this point. Why was it now that she had to be so perceptive.

 

"I'm not." She lied, although once more, she couldn't perfectly control her voice. Even she was aware that this lie wouldn't pass.

 

She felt the movement of the dog girl as she got closer. "You are." Ruby once more stated the obvious. The dog girl reached with her arms and pulled her closer, and she didn't feel like objecting to that. She leaned to the side, resting her head against the dog girl's chest, feeling the redhead's arms gently wrapped around her head.

 

"I just had a bad dream." There was no point in lying anymore, it was clear as day that she was crying.

 

"What was it about?" Ruby asked, she felt the girl's hands gently brush through her hair. She smiled softly, it reminded her of the few times she did it to the dog girl.

 

"It was about you. I had to choose between two terrible choices, and I had to pick one so I did. You overheard it and you told me that you don't want me as your owner anymore, that you don't want to be anywhere near me. That I betrayed you." She felt her throat tighten at that as she gulped. She had to take a deep breath to calm herself. The scent of the girl did help to calm her down.

 

"Oh, but it was just a dream, I won't do that. I would understand that you didn't have a choice. I trust you." Ruby said with a reassuring tone of voice.

 

While it did help, she knew that perhaps this was the best moment to do what had to be done. She slowly raised up, escaping the dog girl's arms, as she turned her way and focused on her face. "Ruby, can we talk."

 

"Uhm, of course." The girl nodded.

 

"No, I mean like... Can we forget about the fact that technically I'm your owner and you're my pet. Can we just talk like two people that... That trust each other. Like friends." She held her breath, not sure how the girl would react. While the first thought was that there was no issue with this, she knew that a faunus, or especially a dog faunus, might look at it from a different perspective.

 

"O-Oh..." The girl looked to the side, and after a few seconds she let out a soft sigh and once more focused on her, giving a small nod. "Alright."

 

"Ruby did... Are you happy? I mean, are you happy with me, living with me, knowing that this might be the rest of your life, to spend it by my side." At that her eyes moved down, she was too afraid to hear the answer, to even see the girl's expression. After a moment of silence she just closed her eyes entirely, waiting for her to answer the question.

 

"I... Well, if we're to talk like... Like friends." Ruby took a deep breath. "At first I just wanted to not get to the pound. I wanted to go back, to Summer, back home. Not even this city home, just the village we lived in." There was sadness in her voice as she spoke.

 

"I later understood that there was no going back, that time moved forward and I had to adapt to my life changing. I just wanted to avoid getting to the pound, so really, this was as good as anywhere but the pound or the streets." The redhead gave a shrug.

 

"I didn't really like the food and I was bored. I don't like being bored, I think about things when I'm bored, and sometimes I think about sad or bad things, I start to worry or just get sad. The worst is that my thoughts keep spinning on their own and I just can't stop them. I like to distract myself. It's why I like radio. I can focus on the sounds. The music, the voices, what they're saying or singing, the rhythm, anything." Ruby paused at that, as she looked behind herself, most likely at the radio that was in the room.

 

"It's not that the food is bad, I just was used to tasty food, home cooked by Summer. Not store food you just microwave." The girl gave another shrug.

 

"At some point I saw it, how you struggle, that you care, that you're doing a lot of things for me. You're... You're sacrificing yourself for me. I know that you lack resources, knowledge and even time. Yet you found ways to get all of it, just for me." Ruby smiled at that.

 

"It's when I started to think that I was nothing but a burden to you, that all I receive is pity. A helpless, stray dog that you thought you had to keep because otherwise I'd just... Wither or something."

 

"Then you once more came and told me that... You gave me the last piece of the puzzle. Puzzle that is my new life. That perhaps now I am helpless, but there are ways for me to learn, and one day help you. Repay you, even if by a tiny bit of what you offered me."

 

The redhead let out a chuckle. "But I'm rambling, you asked me if I was happy..." Weiss felt the dog girl gently grab her hands. "I am. I don't want to say if I'm more or less happy than if I was with Summer. I don't think it's fair towards you or her. I just think of it as a different type of happiness. Like... Like radio station, all being on different waves. It's just different type of happiness. I'll never say if I'm more happy now or back than." The girl shook her head.

 

"It's different, my past feels like a dream. It was happiness with small sour moments, but when I now think about those moments they feel so unimportant, overshadowed by... By the last few weeks." Ruby let out a sigh.

 

"This is... This feels more real. For each sad moment, there's a happy one. It helped me understand it, how life is. You did. So I'm grateful to you for that." The girl smiled and then there was silence, as if her answer was done with.

 

Weiss moved one of her hands to gently place it against the other girl's cheek. "Thank you Ruby."

 

"Did you think I was unhappy with you?" The redhead tilted her head.

 

"I... Yes, I just thought I wasn't able to offer you means to be happy." She sighed and looked to the side, as if ashamed by the fact.

 

"You need to remember that I understand what's going on around me. Sure I might not know everything, but... But I try, I don't want to be a silly pup. I know it's hard for you, and I don't want to be a burden. I want to be there with you, to... To ease some of the pain, of the burden that your life became... Because of me." Ruby's smile grew a bit on the sad side.

 

"No, you're not a burden. You brought something that... I was missing. All this time. I guess I was afraid to just search for it." She shook her head. "But that's not important. Ruby, we both acted this way, and I think if we're to live and not go crazy I think we should decide on something." She nodded with a firm expression.

 

"Um, what is that?" Ruby tilted her head curiously to the other side.

 

"I know it's weird, and I don't mean to make it sound bad. But I think that from now on? First and foremost we should just be friends. If we have an issue, a problem, even if it's related to one another, we should just tell each other about it. I know that we're technically in a pet and owner sort of relationship, but... I don't care what people might say if they find out. I want to be your friend Ruby. It's just... Will you accept it? My friendship?" Weiss felt weird, as if she was asking the girl out or something. If it was a human perhaps it wouldn't feel this weird. She wouldn't even ask for being friends. It's just something that happened on it's own.

 

"I... Alright. I don't know how it will work, but I want to be your friend." Ruby nodded and decided to mimic her owner's and now friend's gesture and placed a single hand on the white haired girl's cheek.

 

Weiss just smiled at that, as she brought the other girl's face closer, leaning in till their forehead touched as she looked into the silver orbs that were the eyes of her new friend. "Thank you, Ruby."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, no romance, Ruby got friendzoned... 
> 
> Why I wrote this? Because I thought to myself that if I was to take a break, I should end this in some meaningful way. Like something was accomplished. I'm not saying I'm ending the story of course. But I wanted for this to end a certain part of this story. 
> 
> So here we are, 15 chapters (not counting bonus stuff) later and as you can see, something was accomplished. A certain "era" is behind us. Now with this new approach to their relation, the story can move on onto some new territory.
> 
> I also wanted to make this a bit of a thank you.
> 
> I know people usually do this sort of thing when they hit some specific number on either chapters or follows or favs or reviews/comments or whatever. 
> 
> But I'm weird, we estabilished that. 
> 
> I wanted to thank you all for following this story, reading it, following/favoriting it and most importantly, leaving a piece of your mind in reviews/comments.
> 
> All of these really mean a lot to me. Not only in this story, but in every story I write. I guess because this is my (so far) biggest thing I have here, is why I wanted to say this.
> 
> Part of this story is all you, for keeping me motivated. For letting me know that with my time and effort I could make someone smile or enjoy themselves, even if for a moment. That it means something for someone else than just myself.
> 
> So thank you, all of you. People I already thanked and actively talk with each review/comment they post, all people who comment/review from accounts I can't respond to, be it guest or just people have that function blocked (You know who you are! YES! YOU!), to all people who just clicked the fav/follow and to people who just read the story and not care for doing any of that. It's fine, really! I appreciate that as well!
> 
> Why this all of a sudden? Let's say I was feeling down, and for a weird reason i decided to just go through my stories, read some old reviews, to recollect all my previous stories and what people thought about them. It helped to cheer me up enough and get any sort of silly thoughts out of my head. 
> 
> Gosh I hope I don't sound like a narcissistic person now ... Ugh. Well it is what it is, I'll pay for my honesty if that’s the case.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	18. Bonus 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, this (bonus) chapter contains bees, if you're allergic to bees you might want to be careful. Author does not take any responsibility for any bee injury you might have taken while reading this chapter. You have been warned!

"Ho'boy! What a day." Yang said as she threw her jacket at the nearest chair, slamming the door behind both herself and her faunus.

 

"Tired?" Blake asked as she took her own jacket off but unlike the blonde, she moved to properly hang it, going towards the one that Yang threw and do the same with it.

 

The human girl on the other hand moved towards the couch and sat on it heavily. "Ugh... A bit, you dragged me through every oriental restaurant in the city."

 

Blake just sticked her tongue out at her and moved towards the kitchen. "I'll make myself some tea, do you want some?"

 

"Eh, why the heck not, could use a bit of a warm up from the inside." She called after the catgirl who disappeared inside the kitchen. Yang leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

 

"I told you to wear something thicker since it'll be cold after dark." Blake said as she exited the kitchen and approached her owner. She moved behind the couch and leaned forward to nuzzle against her cheek.

 

"I know I know, you're always smart and I never listen to you." The blonde placed a hand on the other girl's cheek, only to slowly move it up till she had access to the girl's ears which she offered a soft scratch.

 

"Mrrh~ So while tea might warm you up from the inside." Blake said as she tilted her head towards Yang's face a bit more. "How about I do the same but from the outside?" She asked as their noses touched. It was but a second from their lips touching when the kettle in the kitchen started to whistle, announcing that the water was boiling and to which Blake immediately pulled away.

 

"Aw... Darn." Yang sighed at that.

 

Blake had to hear that as she spinned around just to poke her tongue at the other girl. "You get plenty of that already." She called from the kitchen.

 

"What's wrong with wanting more of it huh?" She called back at the faunus girl.

 

"Mmm... Nothing I supposed." Came a late reply from Blake, as she carried two cups. She approached the place that Yang was sitting and placed both cups on the table in front of her, only to drop tummy first on the human girl's lap, making her yelp in surprise.

 

"I saw what you did to Ruby, so you can do that to me as well." She announced and closed her eyes, as she got comfortable in her new position.

 

"Huh, got jealous?" Yang smirked, although she moved her hand to scratch the catgirl's back, her other hand reaching towards her head as she petted her hair and ears.

 

"Mmm... Sure, whatever, as long as you scratch my back." Came the reply from the black haired girl.

 

Yang rolled her eyes and sighed, although she continued to move her fingers across the other girl's back. "I'm surprised Ruby didn't recognize you."

 

"Mmmh?" Blake opened one of her eyes, not quite sure what her owner meant by that.

 

"You know, from what you told me." The blonde shrugged.

 

The catgirl just closed her eyes once more. "In the state she was that night, I doubt she even remembers much. She most likely just knows that she ran away and she ended up in a box in front of Weiss's apartement."

 

"You still didn't say why you did that." Yang frowned, she trusted Blake, but it would be a lie if she said she wasn't curious about motivation behind certain actions that the catgirl took.

 

"What did you expect me to do? I wouldn't let her end up in a pound, and I knew we wouldn't be able to keep her. She was panicked so all I could do was to hide her in a place I knew was... Sort of safe." Blake tried to shrug in her awkward position.

 

"Did you expect her to be found by Weiss?" Yang inquired further.

 

"Mmmh... I don't know what i expected. I think I panicked as much as she did that night, so I just assumed in my stupidity that Weiss is good, so a box in front of Weiss's apartement should be also good. I had no idea the next day what would happen, thinking she'd just be found and put in the dump." She let out a sigh.

 

"Yet she didn't." The blonde commnted.

 

"That girl is more lucky than she's aware of." She retorted.

 

"Which one?" Yang raised a brow.

 

"Mmmh?" Once more she was forced to open one of her eyes as her owner confused her with a weird question.

 

"Which one is the lucky one, Ruby or Weiss?" Yang smirked as she asked.

 

The catgirl just rolled her eyes. "I'm sure Weiss would be fine living comfortably in her little house while Ruby would rot in a dump." While her eyes were closed she couldn't help but frown at that.

 

"Eh, when you put it like that. Although I sometimes wonder if she wasn't rotting from the inside all that time, hence why I asked which one was lucky. I think both of them were, since they both had what the other needed." Yang let out a sigh as she too allowed for her eyes to close. "What do you think about her? Ruby I mean." She asked, deciding to change the topic.

 

"She's a nice girl and seems smart. I'll tell you more after tomorrow once I spent half a day with her." Once more she tried to shrug, which proved to be difficult considering her current position. "Also you stopped scratching." She added in a very disappointed tone.

 

"Gosh, you're so needy." Yang rolled her eyes as she renewed her previous activity of rubbing the catgirl's back.

 

"Mmmh... You have to take the good with the bad." The girl retorted back at her.

 

"Guess I do. Speaking of which, will you be around tonight? Or are you going out for a walk like always?" There was something in Yang's voice, a hint of a certain emotion that made Blake open her eye to look at her.

 

"Why?" She simply asked.

 

"I wouldn't mind having you around for tonight to hug and fall asleep with." The blonde offered with a soft smile.

 

"Mmm... Well I did skip on a few naps today because of our food adventure, and being social exhausts me plenty, so I might skip on today's nightwalk and stay home." She closed her eye.

 

"Great." Yang replied with a grin.

 

"Although your lack of back scratching might make me change my mind." The catgirl added.

 

"Ugh, you're so high maintenance sometimes, Blake." The blonde groaned as she once more renewed what she has stopped, mostly because her arm was starting to get tired, and it wasn't something she was used to doing without really focusing on such a task.

 

"Aw..." Blake suddenly turned around and looked up at her. "I'm sorry for being a bad kitty, I'll try to redeem myself tonight." She nodded.

 

Yang inhaled sharply and grabbed the girl more securely as she suddenly rose up. Just that motion made Blake squeak in surprise as she reached up to wrap her arms around the blonde's neck instinctively, afraid she'd fall down if she didn't. "Y-Yang?!"

 

"It's super late and we need to go to bed!" The human girl announced as she started to basically run towards the bedroom with the catgirl in her arms.

 

"Y-Yang! My tea!" Was the last thing she called, before the door to said bedroom were slammed behind them.

 

oooOOOooo

 

Ruby yawned as she sat up, her ear perked up as she looked around the room. It was still dark but a certain sound woke her up and in addition confused her.

 

"Ruby why aren't you sleeping." Came Weiss's question in a very sleepy voice.

 

"I think I heard something... Someone..." She started and frowned, trying to focus. "I think I heard Blake's voice yelling "no more" or something like that." She added as she collected her thoughts.

 

"Ruby, that's impossible, they live like... Far away. Go back to sleep." The human girl reached to pull the girl down, and wrapped an arm around her as she pulled her into a hug, quickly falling back asleep with the dog girl in her arms.

 

The redhead just shrugged, deciding that it had to be the case, and closed her eyes, nuzzling against her owner to get more comfortable and letting sleep take her as well.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had fun writing this, if you couldn't tell. It's short because it's a bonus chapter. This idea came to me one night and I thought "why not" and as always, it was made. I know I said that there would be a Ruby focused bonus chapter, but because this would be technically after the last chapter (chronologically speaking) I decided to write this first, and leave the Ruby oriented one for later.
> 
> I never wrote a Bumblebee story, mostly because I just never saw the connection between the two. Never, ever. Be it the Monty era (v 1-3) or the new era (4-5) I just never saw connection between the two. 
> 
> The only thing that comes close is Yang suddenly having some sort of PTSD over Blake leaving her, but really, that can be easily explained by her being abandoned AGAIN in her life. It wouldn't matter if it was a friend, family member or a lover. Also it comes so out of the blue considering everything. They danced in v1, but if we go by that then where's my Weiss/Neptune fic, they also danced...
> 
> I didn't mean to make it sound like I'm bashing the bumblebee, I'm not. I'm just frustrated to see the connection, so if you want to explain it to me, how the dynamics work? I'd gladly listen! Although I'll argue if I'll disagree with some of the points hah.
> 
> Anyway, that one part, you know which, was an alternative prologue I wrote, before I decided that the story would focus on Weiss's pov entirely, at least the main portion of it. So since I didn't dislike the idea, I decided to keep it.. canon.. I can't believe I just wrote this. My own stories have canon now.
> 
> Also I already have plans for the next "real" chapter, but like I said I want to release at least 2 chapters for my monochrome story before that, and at least start another arc in my Freezerburn one. Still, like I said, I have a chapter in mind for this and that chapter will help me shape the next arc for this here pet ruby story.
> 
> I'll see you guys next chapter! Bonus chapter that is. Feel free to leave a review/comment and yell at me for questioning bumblebee! (Or say what you thought about this here chapter, that's also appreciated)


	19. Bonus 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long A/N ahead, you have been warned.
> 
> It's alive, sort of. Not yet though, I still want to move one of my other stories forwards. But this is the update I promised, and I decided this is a good moment to remind people that I'm alive and this story is also alive… Although I managed to squeeze a massive one-shot the other day so hopefully people noticed that I'm not dead, just in a zombie state.
> 
> Now let me tell you about how glad I am that I decided to "pause" my stories in the time I did. Why? Because not soon after that, my schedule changed so drastically that I was unable to really write anything. I was just too tired or sleepy or just generally meh to sit down and write anything. Yet that will come to an end, partially at least, so I'm looking forward to that moment.
> 
> But enough about that, enjoy the story!

She moved through the tall grass, finding a passage through the rocky hill that she knew her body could fit through without showing herself to the surrounding. Perhaps she didn't measure it up perfectly, as she needed to squeeze herself through the tight place, but she managed to get past that obstacle. A sudden sound made her freeze on the spot, some of the rocks collapsed behind her and she had to make sure that the surrounding creatures would assume it was something that occurred by itself, without it being some sort of predator lurking by. Once she made sure that was the case, she renewed her journey.

This place was less open space and more tightly narrowed spots that she could move without being noticed or without approaching her prey directly, she knew that she was born to be the perfect hunter, she could deal with that. Another rocky obstacle, this time even tighter and it would require her to get even lower than before. She started to question this route, if this got worse and worse with each and every hindrance, then at some point this would be all in vain.

With one deep breath, she lunged forward, trying to make the momentum carry her as far as possible. That partially worked in her favor, as she was halfway through the hole, which made her have to struggle to push the other half through it. Once she moved, the main issue occurred to her. As she moved, she heard the loose rocks tremble above her. This time it wasn't just the risk of the sound alarming the surrounding, but her getting potentially crushed to death. She had to be careful.

She started to wiggle herself as little as possible, she had to be patient, applying force little by little, seeing at what point will she at least move forward by inches. The rocks above her rumbled dangerously, but at this point, she knew she had to move forward. She inched bit by bit, each movement making the unstable, rocky structure above her shake and rumble dangerously. Soon she managed to squeeze herself through without having an avalanche bury her in a rocky tomb.

With a deep sigh of relief she moved forward, she lost enough time already, at this point her prey could escape. She moved onward through the tall grass, trying to stay low and not to make too much noise. Soon she heard a hum of a river and not moments after that she could see it through the tall grass.

She bit her lower lip, the current was too much to try and swim across it, her eyes scanned the area for anything that could help with that. She grinned as she noticed something that could serve the purpose of aiding her journey. A log that was stuck on some rocks. While the rocks themselves wouldn't be big enough for her to land on them, the log that got stuck would be more than enough.

She quickly calculated everything inside her head. Distance, wind, approximately how slippery the log would turn out to be and a few other factors not worth mentioning. With everything settled inside her mind, she decided to go for it.

She clenched her teeth and jumped forward, while she easily reached the log she didn't foresee how unstable the log would turn out to be, which in return messed up with how hard it would be to stay on top of it. This whole thing ended up in a mess as she fought to remain on the unfortunate piece of wood, for the moment abandoning her stealthy approach and deciding it was a secondary objective compared to her being washed by the strong current of the river.

With the corner of her eye she noticed a rock, it seemed big enough to allow safe landing and was closer to the other side of the river. Still, she wasn't sure about any details since she couldn't focus enough to look closely and focus on it too much. Yet it was either risk it to try and survive or float down the river with this rotting piece of wood. With that in mind, she made the gamble.

Not being sure of what to expect, she decided that it was wise to expect the worst, and that assumption wasn't too far from the truth. Once she landed on the rock she once more had to fight to remain on top of it, as it was slippery and unstable on its own. Yet this time she knew she wouldn't make the same mistake, as she didn't try to remain on the rock for too long. As soon as she gained any kind of stability, she made another leap.

This one was less lucky, as she didn't fully make it. She grasped the other side of the river, ground, plants, anything that could keep her from floating away, as the lower part of her body landed with a splash in the river. Still, while it wasn't as perfect as the previous two jump, perhaps luck was still on her side. Fighting the current to drag herself onto the dry land, she understood how hard it would be to try and keep from drowning if she was fully captured by it.

Once she got onto the other side she saw it, the prey she stalked for such a long time, finally before her.

Blake turned a page in her book with her right hand, afterward reaching back to ruffle the dog girl's hair. "Bored, Ruby?"

"A little bit." The redhead's ears went flat against her skull as she frowned slightly. "How did you knew I was behind you?" She inquired, not understanding how her intricate plan failed.

Blake closed both the book and her eyes as she took a deep breath. "Well…" She began as she opened her eyes and glanced around the room. "First you wandered into the room on all four and hit the door with your butt so hard that it hit the wall next to it. Later you decided it would be a good idea to try and squeeze yourself under a chair. After that, you jumped onto a pouf, from which you jumped onto the desk chair and finally jumped and grabbed the edge of the bed we're on right now." She finished, letting her fingers reach to scratch the other girl's ears. "Each time almost falling down together with the objected you jumped onto."

"Mmh..." Ruby grumped. "I guess I'm not that good at stalking and hunting." She declared with a sad sigh.

Blake chuckled at that. "It takes some time before you learn how to move unnoticed, don't worry, we all start somewhere." She smiled, although the cat girl's smile was short lived. "I guess this is my fault, I was supposed to look after you, that includes entertaining you as our guest." She said as she moved her legs over the edge of the bed and stretched herself fully before standing up. Her golden eyes scanning the room as she searched for something.

The redhead's ears perked up at that. "No, no! It's fine, really. I'm just… Happy that there's someone around. I hate being alone." She looked to the side. "I don't want to be a bother."

"You're not," Blake commented as she located the object she was looking for and moved towards it. She picked it up and moved back to the bed, handing it to the dog girl. Ruby took it into her hands, in hindsight that wasn't the smartest of ideas as she was still holding the edge of the bed and her hands were the only things keeping her from landing on her butt. Which she had to use to take the book.

With one painful "ompf" later, the redhead glanced at the item. It was a book, a red book with some children drawings on it and some letters she couldn't really read. What was most peculiar about it was that it didn't seem like an old book, yet it was… It seemed like it seen better days. As it was ruined here and there, one place was even marked by someones sharp nails. As she opened the book to scan it for any more damage, it seemed to be in a better shape than the outside part.

"What's this?" She asked as she looked curiously at the book and the black haired girl.

"It's a book that helps with learning on how to read. I thought it would help since you might learn that sooner or later and give you something to do." Blake patted a place next to her on the bed.

Ruby nodded, now fascinated by the book as she sat next to the other girl. "Why is it so… Ruined?"

At that the cat girl reached to rub her own neck, a nervous smile appearing on her lips. "Well… When Yang first gave it to me I wasn't really happy about it."

Ruby's eyes went wide in shock. "You didn't like a gift from your owner?! But… But why?" It didn't matter if the gift was useful or not, or edible or not, it still was a sign of affection, of care from the owner. Now both the book and the cat girl next to her seemed like some sort of an enigma, a puzzle without a solution.

"It's complicated, Ruby." Blake sighed and looked away from the dog girl. "It's all unfair how they treat us, most of us. I know that not all of us are capable of acting on their own. I understand that if we allow one of us to be independent, then it makes the issue of where to draw the line for others. Will it make the others feel worse? Or the chosen ones to feel as if they were better. So we live in this society where there's a thick line no one can cross." Blake shook her head.

Ruby tilted her head, not sure if she understood. "What… Does it have to do with the book and how damaged it was?" She raised her ears, deciding to use the book as some sort of focusing point for whatever it is that Blake wanted to tell her.

"It was insulting for her to bring me a children book like I couldn't learn like anyone else. Like I was stupid." Blake grimaced for a moment, yet that expression didn't last for long as sadness was soon to replace it. "I know she didn't know better, I understand now how… Irrational I was." She shook her head. "I'm sorry Ruby, I'm just blabbering about things out of context and… Everything."

"It's fine, just talk about anything, I like to listen when people talk." Ruby decided that a smile would fit her answer, so she did just that, smile. Blake seemed to humor her or maybe it did indeed work, as the cat girl smiled back at her.

"You need to trust in your own mind a bit more, Ruby. Don't take this world for granted, but be careful about how far out of line you step." She said and reached towards the book. "But enough about that, how about we start with some basic practice so you'll be able to pick it up by yourself back at home."

"Back at home? But that'll be hard without the book." Ruby's ears went down at that. She clearly saw that Blake didn't want to talk about whatever it is that troubled her, so she decided it would be better to focus on the more grounded issues.

"I'll let you take the book, don't worry." The cat girl smiled as she patted the other girl's head.

Ruby's eyes went wide at that, as her tail started to sway behind her in rapid succession. "Really?!" Although her burst of happiness died as quickly as it happened. "But will your owner allow for it? I mean you didn't ask her."

"I don't need to ask her." Blake started, yet she understood that it wouldn't pass as the argument to convince the dog girl or make her not feel bad for taking the book. "Besides." She continued. "She gave it to me, so it's mine. What's the point of gifting something to someone if you can't do with it whatever you want? Also, our owners are friends, so it's not like I'm giving it out to some stranger."

Ruby frowned at that, as each of the arguments settled inside her head, trying to fit into the overall logic of what Blake was trying to push into her. She nodded slowly, deciding that what the other girl said seemed to be a rational explanation. "Alright."

"Good, but first we'll have to teach you the basic fundamentals." Blake said as she took the book from the girl and opened it, placing it to that both of them could look into the pages. "Each page is dedicated to a letter, each with pictures of things that start with that letter. So for example… I don't know, B like Bee, see?" She moved a few pages ahead. "Or F for a flower." She showed the pages with the flower. "It's not perfect and I doubt you would learn how to read and most importantly learn how to write with it, but I think it will give you some ground to at least start somewhere, and maybe your owner, Weiss, can help you out from time to time." She smiled as she finished explaining.

She wasn't the best teacher, but hopefully, this wasn't too much and too complicated even for her lacking abilities to teach. Yet as she looked at the dog girl a different worry brewed inside her mind, something she forgot that the dog Faunus kind shared. As her eyes went wide in fear and she raised her arms to defend herself. "No, Ruby, no! do-" She was cut short as the other girl tackled her into the bed.

"Thank you!" The dog girl yelled happily, at which Blake's ears went flat against her skull, there was nothing worse than an excited dog Faunus. And a clingy one at that.

"Hey Blake, we didn't have the last lecture so we're back sooner..." Yang announced as she opened the door, shortly followed by Weiss.

Blake cursed at that, she had to not hear them due to the excited dog girl distracting her.

Both human girls raised their brows at the sight. "What's exactly going on here?" The blonde asked.

Ruby raised her head as she smiled happily. "Blake was..." She paused as a thought occurred inside her head, she could sound smart! "Blake was teaching me the fundamentals! Like about Bees and flowers." She nodded remembering the two letters they went through.

The cat owner opened her mouth and paused like that for a moment as if it didn't occur to her. "Blake was teaching you about the bees and the flowers?" She eyed the two Faunus girls laying together, one on top of the other.

It was Weiss's moment to interrupt as she asked… Well, screamed. "What?!"

oooOOOooo

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright.

"I'll buy it back."

"No need to, we wanted to replace it anyway."

"I'm not sure what overcame me."

"Weiss." Yang frowned as she looked at the white-haired girl. "It's fine, really. You had all the rights to react the way you did. It was a misunderstanding, I'm sure you didn't purposely do that."

Ruby sat next to her owner, her ears low as she wasn't really sure of what happened. "Did… Did I do bad?" She inquired, the anxiety of the situation catching up to her.

Weiss offered a soft smile to the dog girl as she patted her head. "No Ruby, I'm just stupid, you didn't do anything bad."

That sent a conflicting message through her head, on one hand, she didn't do anything bad, which meant she should be happy. Yet she didn't want to be happy about her owner being stupid. In the end, she decided to just focus on the positive things and she hugged the newly acquired book as she smiled. She glanced towards the other room where Blake was laying down, reading one of her endless supply of books.

She could finally start improving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Speaking of that, I looked back at this story, having a break allowed for me to really look at the bigger picture of it all. I know what I should improve upon, I know what mistakes I did and I evaluated all the ways I could at least try and fix those without breaking the story completely.
> 
> While I won't name all of those flaws, I wanted to point out one of them. Ruby and how she was so far in the story. As many of you noticed, she was very passive, a reactionary character, or not even that, more of a sole reason for things to happen. Reason for that was a combination of three things.
> 
> One, it was intentional, partially of course. I wanted for the first part of the story to be focused on Weiss and how her life is. Together with the prologue that showed her monotone life and how crazy it seemed in contrast after she found Ruby. Since I didn't feel like I could handle focusing on two characters without it turning out to be a big mess, I decided to put Ruby in a more passive state. I could, she was a character that had her life turned upside down, she wasn't sure what to believe and she shouldn't take anything for granted.
> 
> The second was a mistake, what I said in the first reason was true, but I think I pushed that line a bit too far. I made her too passive, too reactionary too… Nonexistent, bland. I'm aware of that. I'm aware of it, as well as many other flaws that this story developed over time. I'm not afraid to admit to this, I promise to improve. For both my sake and those that read my stories.
> 
> The third reason why I took it this far, the reason why I unintentionally put Ruby in such a spot. Fear, my fear of making characters in any AU. Each time I make an AU I try to make the character as close to the original as possible. The issue is that more often than not, the AU I work with is a real world, which is a tad different, since rwby characters are motivated through things unique to Remnant, at least in case of Weiss and Ruby. Not really sure what motivates Yang or Blake, but at least their issues are somehow relatable in real life (Abandonment and racial issues).
> 
> But to go back on track, this AU is even weirder, and it turns Ruby into a Faunus, and not a normal Faunus, but a pet Faunus, as they are in my story. I was just… Afraid to make Ruby engage, to show any part of any sort of personality I would have planned for her, out of fear that I would fail in some way to capture anything from the original.
> 
> Now I know its silly. Why? Because I won't be able to please everyone. There will always be a person who will find my depiction of this Faunus Ruby to be wrong, or not as they imagined. I can either try to please everyone and fail as I did so far or do my thing for better or worse.
> 
> I guess I wanted to be honest about it, and while I don't want to point out all the flaws so people start noticing them more frequently, I just wanted to showcase that I indeed often sit down and evaluate my stories and what I did wrong and how I could fix it. I think for all of those who don't mind monochrome, that's very apparent in my other story (The monochrome one). What mistakes I made and how in later chapters I tried (or am trying) to fix them.
> 
> I know this isn't some sort of rocket science. I don't expect asspats because I'm doing something I should do. Improve. I just wanted to show that I'm not just sitting on my butt forgetting about the story and not even doing the bare minimum of making plans for the future chapters or trying to fix errors and mistakes. I wanted you guys to know that all the critique you guys offer I really take into account. I might often excuse myself, but it's always there and I always look back at it, especially after it cools down with time.
> 
> But it is what it is.
> 
> Outside of that, I was wondering if I shouldn't write a short story on the side about how Blake and Yang came to be together, I'm sure people get more and more curious what the hell happened with Blake (And Yang). Though I'm not sure how to go about it and when I'll do it, there's a high possibility I will (It won't be a long story, although it will be a multi-chapter one).
> 
> Since this is a whiterose story I guess I should just focus on Whiterose news. I have another longer one-shot I paused working on to push my other stories and this chapter forward as well as real plans of re-writing my "Entwined" story. And here is my question, if I was to rewrite it, should I just replace the chapters with new ones, or should I just make a "new" story and call it like Entwined 2.0 or something along those lines. I'm not sure what's the proper way of handling this sort of situations.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope all of you have a lovely day/night/whatevertimeofdayitisforyou.


	20. Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's back!

The next Thursday.

It was already dark, with the past week being filled with some new adjustments. All of them around Ruby and her spending time at Yang's place with Blake whenever she was at the university or her job. That was a good exchange, as she could work a few hours more to make up for the fact that she no longer worked on Fridays. As such it was the start of her weekend and while usually it would be filled with being a hermit and just doing some reading and her course assignments, this time that wasn't the case.

Still, today was Thursday, a peaceful evening and as such Weiss spent most of it just lazily reading a book for one of the many topics that were part of this semester. While normally she could talk herself into focusing on it, ever since she got Ruby it was hard to keep up with her normal reading routine, which over time made her a bit lazy in regards of her studying.

As if sensing that, she soon felt something crawl up her, only to push its head under the book. "I'm bored." The thing, now identified as a certain Faunus, spoke her tone of voice true to her words. The girl laid her head on top of her chest, her silver eyes curiously looking at her.

Initially, Weiss had a different idea on how to respond to the girl, simply asking her if she wanted to do something, but then she remembered one stupid… Wordplay? Or just a mean to be annoying that Yang introduced her to. "Hi Bored, I'm Weiss."

"I know your name." Ruby frowned at that, not understanding what her owner was talking about.

"And I thought I knew your name, but apparently it's bored now," Weiss smirked down at her.

"I'm not bored." The Faunus girl protested.

"See? Problem solved." Weiss grinned.

"Mmmh..." The redhead looked to the side with her eyes, annoyed at the situation.

"Aw… I'm just joking Ruby. Here, let's find a solution to your problem. How about this." She placed the open book on top of her head. The other girl tried to peek at the book but clearly, her eyes weren't made to look in such direction.

After a moment she gave up and simply asked. "How is this helping?" She glanced at Weiss.

"Now you're a house, and that's your roof. Houses can't be bored." The Schnee offered a wise nod, with the corner of her eye she did notice the tail wagging in the back, indicating that Ruby was being entertained by their silly exchange, which was a plus. It did help with her own boredom as well.

"I can't be a house." She replied with a frown.

"You're right, the ears have to go. Houses don't have ears." At that Weiss smirked, raising one of her hands to make a scissor motion with her fingers. That made Ruby gasp as she spun around to lay on her back, covering her ears as she rubbed her head against her chest. As if burying them in there was enough, the silver eyed girl stuck her tongue out at her owner. That finally made Weiss laugh, as she placed both her hands on the girl's cheeks, gently rubbing them.

She never really paid attention to her face that much. Now smiling, without worry behind those silver orbs. If there was still sadness for the past events, it was now buried under happiness, masked under the playful sparks that she could see.

There was nothing but silence between the two, as they both looked into each other eyes. Weiss's fingers moved across the girl's cheeks, brushing against her soft lips, and at that moment she wondered how would it feel to kiss her.

"R-Ruby, can you get up?" She asked as her eyes moved to look away from the Faunus girl.

"Huh? Alright, did something happened?" The girl did as she was asked, moving up and freeing Weiss from under her.

"No, I just need to go to the bathroom." As she stood up, she casually reached out to ruffle the redhead's hair.

Once inside the bathroom, she locked the doors behind her, as if afraid that Ruby would walk in for whatever reason. She rushed towards the sink, pouring cold water onto her hands and splashing it across her face. Once, twice, thrice. She finally raised her head and looked into the mirror at herself. She was pale, more than usual. Or was it just the light and her own imagination? Was she seeing things? She sure felt as if all blood left her face.

Leaning against the sink she breathed heavily, feeling her heart racing inside her chest. The realization being too much to handle at the moment, yet it didn't seem to care what power it had over the girl. It would be there regardless of if she wanted to or not. It was there for a long time, with each similar accident growing bigger and bigger to the point that she couldn't lie to herself anymore. She couldn't pretend it was nothing, make up excuses and do more mental gymnastic about it.

She was cornered by her own thoughts and at that moment she decided to just face them. The issue that emerged was quite simple. How to call it? What was this thing?

"I like Ruby." She whispered to herself as she glanced into the mirror. But this wasn't enough. "I have a crush on Ruby." She continued, closing her eyes. "I have a crush on a girl. Faunus girl." She finished, her throat growing tight, a feeling that soon filled her stomach as well.

She wasn't stupid, maybe if it was just today, but it was like this for a bit, wasn't it? Physical attraction to this girl. Which wouldn't be that bad? Homosexuality wasn't in a bad spot if it was even a proper way to say it like that. Sure there were people against it, but most of the time folks claimed to not care about who likes who or sleeps with who and all that. It was a bit shocking still. Was this how this mythic closet worked like? And walking out of it?

That could wait, there was a worse part to it all. Ruby was a Faunus. She wasn't a human. She was attracted to a Faunus, like some weirdo. Now that was shunned by people, that was crossing the line. It was dangerous for society to embrace such a thing, as it would question the delicate status quo that was made over all the history of humans and Faunus living together.

She took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. She repeated that a few times, managing to calm herself. It actually felt good to admit that, as if there was some burden she wasn't even aware of up till now. The question was, what now? Should she tell someone? Yang? Blake? Ruby? What would she tell any of them?

Hey, Yang I just wanted to tell you that I'm a Faunus lover and I mean literally a Faunus lover and I want to do nasty stuff with them.

Hey, Blake, I want to objectify your kind some more than it already is and wants to use it as an outlet for my sexual frustration.

Before her mind started making up an over exaggerated line for Ruby she stopped herself. It wouldn't be fair, she liked the girl. Would it be like a confession? Would Ruby understand the difference? She wasn't socialized to understand the difference, right? Or was she? Would she just hurt the girl if she tried to push her own human feelings onto the girl? Was there even a difference?

She clenched her fists, how she just wanted to scream or even punch the mirror in front of her. Why did all of this have to trigger now, it was such a fun little evening, they were fooling around and soon they would just have dinner and go to bed, wake up the next day and go on with their lives.

Perhaps the answer was simple. She didn't have to do anything, right? She could just continue doing what she did, enjoy the girl and just control any sort of weird urges she would have. Draw a line at certain things and just keep to her own rules. Perhaps the feeling would go away if it was but a crush. Love was a fictional creation after all. Romance and all that, did people still believe in it? For now, she could simply enjoy her company, like when you fall in love with a friend and are too afraid that if you confess things would change.

She nodded to herself in the mirror, that was a reasonable plan. With that in mind, she splashed her face one more time with cold water before wiping it off with a towel. As she left the bathroom Ruby was curled up in the spot that just before they both shared. She smiled at the sight, for a moment forgetting about her inner turmoil.

She sat at the edge of the bed and reached out to gently stroke the girl's hair. "Ruby? Are you sleeping?"

"Mmm?" She tilted her head to glance at her with those silver eyes. "No, just this spot has your warmth and scent. It feels nice" At her answer, Weiss had to focus for a moment to keep herself calm as she felt her heart start to race. This wouldn't be as easy as she thought it would be.

oooOOOooo

While initially, it seemed a bit awkward, Weiss did talk herself into behaving as normal, so around the dinner time, everything was back to normal, with a bit of a hiccup at the bedtime when she was reminded that they indeed shared a bed. Still, she managed a good night sleep. And thank goodness for that, since today was Friday, the shopping day in which they finally could go out and use the voucher they earned to get some Faunus clothes.

Now that she thought about it, what was the difference between them? Couldn't they just wear human clothes? She could ask that rabbit girl when they get there. If they get there. "Ruby! We're leaving soon! Don't spend too much time in the bathroom!" She let out a sigh as she walked outside to check the mail, this girl will be the reason they'll have to pay more due to how much she liked to spend time under warm water.

She shook her head, focusing on her trivial task. Her mailbox, a small metal box attached next to her door, while this wasn't the safest way of getting mail, it was at least honest in case of any break in attempts, since it was so primitive that you'd have to just bash the thing open in order to get whatever was inside, aside of having the key to it that is. Still, who mails things in this day and age? Outside of some official things, as such she never had issues with it and no one ever seemed to care to do anything to her mailbox.

She opened the metal box and was about to instantly close it, used to not seeing anything inside, yet was surprised as something toppled out of it, squeezed in and being barely contained by the metal container. She instinctively reached out to catch it before it fallen to the ground. It looked like a small package, not a letter. Or a very big letter. Deciding that semantics weren't the most important thing right now, she glanced at the envelope, which made her blink in surprise. This was something official, that made her feel anxious. Whenever you got those sort of letters that could mean one of two things. Something extremely important, or something so banal that it deserved to just burn in the fireplace… If she had a fireplace. Not waiting a second more than necessary she tore the envelope, careful of the content, and was greeted with a small, flat plastic box and a letter.

"A box?" She raised an eyebrow, not able to contain her surprise as she asked that out loud. She unfolded the letter and started to read. "Dear Ms. Weiss Schnee… blablabla… We considered your request… blablabla…We accepted your request and collar coded the requested Faunus… Blablabla… We also accepted your request to become the caretaker of Faunus nr. 18212251815195… blablabla… In this package, you'll find the chip that should be worn by the Faunus you own at all time, in case the package did not contain the chip or the chip is broken you have seven days to send back a request for a new chip… blablabla…" She glanced over the rest of the letter and finding no more important information in it. That being the only part that was meant for normal human beings, the rest being made specifically for lawyers it seemed… Not that she considered lawyers to be not normal, but… Well, they sort of understood the law stuff which wasn't normal. There also was a short instruction on how to see if the chip is defective and some other details that weren't important right now.

Her eyes moved away from the letter and settled on the small box. This was it huh? The moment they both waited for. The moment in which she would officially become a legal guardian for Ruby, thus saving her from the hellish life in a pound. Then why didn't it fill her with glee? Why didn't she seem to be happy about it? Was it because of yesterday? Did her realization pay some part in her cold reaction to this news?

She opened the small plastic box and looked closely at the tiny chip. How easy it would be to break it yet how much power it had over both their lives. It wouldn't be difficult to just drop it to the ground and stomp it right here and now, forget about everything and just go back to normal. Work, university, being a hermit with an occasional friendly blonde trying to make her not rot inside her apartment.

She closed her eyes at those thoughts, different faces of Ruby appeared before her, sad, desperate, scared. Could she really go back to living normally with that haunting her? With knowing that this girl would have nothing and no one in her life, any trust she had towards the world crushed just because of her selfish behavior.

Besides, could she really be happy being alone now? It would seem so empty and boring without her, as if even not a full month of living with the girl already made her so used to this chaotic style of living, that anything else would just seem mundane in comparison.

She let out a soft sigh and shook her head. She was just tired and perhaps a little bit scared of what she discovered recently. Ruby was staying, there was nothing that could change her mind. She was staying for both selfless and selfish reasons. She just wasn't sure when and how to tell her about the chip and the official decision.

"Weiss? Where are you! Weiss!" She blinked as she heard Ruby's voice from the inside, exactly how long was she standing in front of her doors like this.

"I'm outside Ruby!" She called and almost facepalmed, why was she yelling through the closed doors. With a groan she went inside, they still had to get ready for their shopping trip. Glancing one more time behind her she did hope that it wouldn't rain, at least not before they get home.

oooOOOooo

"Let's see, we have something warm and something light when it's warm. Something nicer if we'll visit something or someone. Something casual and lots of underwear." Weiss looked at the list and muttered to herself. While it got crazy for the last few… Days? Weeks? She was seriously losing count of time, but since it got crazy for the x amount of time lately, she didn't forget about buying the clothes for the dog girl, especially since she got some easy money for it, or well a form of payment.

While she was busy being responsible, Ruby moved her hands through the different clothes, looking them over again. "Did you change your mind, Ruby?" Velvet, the rabbit Faunus that worked behind the counter raised a brow at her.

"W-What? No, no! I like it, I think. Just… I never bought so many clothes all at once and I think I got lost somewhere in the middle of it all." The redhead smiled nervously and chuckled in the same manner.

"It's fine Ruby." Weiss chimed in. "It's a start for your new life and you need some other clothes outside of your current dress."

"I like my dress." The dog girl grumbled.

"And it's not going anywhere, but we had to get you some other clothes as well." She reached towards her pocket to get a hold of the piece of paper that allowed for them to get all of these clothes, and as soon as her hand moved to grab it, her fingers stumbled upon something else. A small box, the same box from the morning. "Velvet, do you sell collars here? I haven't really seen any and since it's a Faunus store I thought you would sell them."

The bunny girl's ears perked up as she heard her name and a smile immediately appeared on her lips, Weiss had to wonder if it was some sort of reflex by now, something most store clerks had in places like these. "Of course." She replied and reached under the counter to produce a wide but short wooden box. Opening it, on a soft red pad were various collars in different colors and with differently shaped and ornamented tags.

"Why do you keep those under the counter? They are legal, right?" Her brow raised at that.

"To be honest I'm not sure, but Co… I mean, my owner wanted me to keep them out of the public eye, but just sell them if anyone asks so." There was a shrug, and while equally confused as she was, Velvet kept her smile from before.

"A collar?" This time it was Ruby's time to chime in, as she curiously glanced between Weiss and the box's content.

"Yes, you need a collar that can hold your chip, Ruby." She offered a short answer, to which the redhead just grimaced.

"But it hasn't even arrived yet." She grumbled and crossed her arms.

Weiss just rolled her eyes at that. "Yes, but it will any day now, and isn't it easier to just buy one now, while we're here, and not have to run all the way to the store once it actually gets in our mail."

"Actually..." Velvet wanted to chime in, but an icy glare from the Schnee girl made her freeze on the spot, as her ears flopped down and she remained silent.

"I guess..." Ruby let out a soft sigh, too occupied with her own conflicted mood to notice the small, silent exchange between the other two girls. "I just… I'm used to my own collar."

"We don't have to throw it out, but you need to have one that won't get you in trouble. Now pick one you like. Can she try them on?" The human girl's gaze softened as she once more looked at the clerk Faunus, this revived the smile on her lips as she nodded a few times.

"Of course, you can try anyone you like, Ruby." The cheerfulness of the rabbit girl finally infected the redhead enough to clear some of her grumpiness and she herself offered a smile in return.

"Alright, I guess there's no going around rules in the big city." With one last sigh, she focused her silver gaze on the various leather straps.

"Here's the voucher, is it alright if I go out for a moment? I need some fresh air." Weiss asked as she glanced at the door and then back at Velvet, the bunny girl tilted her head as if processing the question and nodded.

"Of course." She offered a simple reply before going back to helping Ruby with the collars, The Schnee just nodded and moved to leave the store, taking a deep breath. Once outside her hand moved towards her pocket, her fingers squeezing the plastic box that was inside.

Ever since the morning, she was on the edge, this weird anxiety building deep inside her and she wasn't sure why. She didn't mean to scare the bunny girl, but at the same time, her behavior was irrational ever since morning, starting from her not telling Ruby about the chip and the letter.

Her hand moved towards her pocket once more, but this time it was out of reflex, and only once she didn't find what her hand tried to grasp was when she understood what she was trying to do. "Damn it." She muttered to herself as she clenched her fist and hit the wall behind her. This was the reason why she felt so conflicted about it, or rather why this dark voice started to stalk her ever since she got the damn package.

Having Ruby was great, it felt good to have company, someone to take care of and all that, but that, of course, was when everything was going well. Once something messed up? She started to stress out and her old habits kicked in. Habits she'd rather have dead. This is what annoyed her and while she didn't want to admit, some part of her wished that things were as they were back before she found the dog girl.

She let out a sigh. Abandoning her now was out of the question, while that tiny voice kept urging her on, she knew that in her own human way she'd feel terrible, and be it an act of selfishness or not, she will keep the girl. It's not like she won't enjoy it just... Moments like this. Especially this dumb... Meta situation in which the fact that things might stress her out were stressing her out. Was this meta? It sounded like it could be called that.

She almost jumped as she heard the doors of the store opening and the dog girl exiting with all the bags. "Weiss? I picked a collar and we managed to pack things up... Well, Velvet packed things up, but I helped! Anyway, since the payment was done she told me I could join you, especially since you weren't feeling well? Are you not feeling well?" Ruby tilted her head, a worried expression painted her face.

"I feel better now, thank you. Mind waiting here for me? I'll go thank Velvet and say goodbye. It'll be a moment if anyone bothers you or some police officers ask you about your owner just tell them, I'm, inside." She smiled as her hand already was reaching towards the door handle.

"Sure? Alright. Just don't take too long, alright? I don't want to be mistaken for a stray Faunus." Ruby's ears went down against her head and Weiss couldn't help but reach out and briefly ruffle the girl's hair.

"It'll be a moment, don't worry." With that, she entered the store only for her eyes to meet a sight of a surprised rabbit girl.

"H-Hello again, did you forgot something?" The Faunus girl smiled.

"I... Yes, I guess I did. I wanted to apologize for silencing you like that earlier. I didn't mean to, just a lot on my mind lately." She offered an apologetic smile of her own at that.

"That's alright, I was just a Faunus that talked too much so you had all the rights to want me to be silent." Velvet nodded in a matter of fact manner.

Weiss wasn't sure what to think about it, and while her mind spun around that, her lips took the initiative. "Because I'm a human?"

The rabbit girl's ears went down a bit, as the girl grew a bit uncomfortable with calling things by its name. "Well, yes. You're a human and I'm a Faunus. You had all the rights to do what you did. You did it in a subtle way so I don't mind, really. You don't need to worry." Velvet offered a light bow.

Weiss wasn't sure what else to say, as she slowly backed towards the exit of the store. But before she could leave one more question appeared in her head. "Hey Velvet? If you could choose, would you rather be a human?"

"Eh?!" That surprised her, as she took a step back at the question. Her brown eyes looked from side to side for anything to avoid having to answer such an awkward question, not finding anything she hugged herself and let out a soft sigh. "I'm not sure, I never really thought about it."

"I see... I'm sorry I bothered you more than I had to. Have a good day." With one last fake smile, Weiss left the store only to almost fall down as a certain dog girl tackled her while carrying all the bags.

"Weiss you're back! You were gone for so long!" It was a miracle that she somehow composed herself and didn't collapse under the weight and impact of the Faunus girl.

"Ruby, calm down it was a few minutes at best." She pushed the girl off herself and fixed her clothing.

"M-Maybe, but it felt like a few years." The redhead's ears went flat against her skull as she glanced at her sadly and once more she reached out to ruffle her hair.

"It's fine, now let's go get those back home because we still have one more place to visit today." With that, she took one of the bags from the other girl and lead her towards the closest bus stop.

oooOOOooo

Ruby glanced up to capture the entirety of it with her eyes, as it all was so tall. And all of it, in addition, having all those different shapes and sizes, all of it filled with the white substance, it was the first time she saw so many in one place.

"Whoa, there's so much mayonnaise in here." The redhead glanced between Weiss and the shelf in front of her.

"Is this your first time in a store this big?" Weiss raised a brow, it was their shopping trip and since she had to start being responsible and actually care for their limited budget she decided that it would be best to buy a lot at once in a place that often had promotions for various products.

"No, the store back…" Ruby paused and took a deep breath. "From before I meet you was just a small store with one lady working in there and it didn't have so many things in it, but… She always found everything she needed." The dog girl's ears went down as she lowered her gaze, the abundance of products before her no longer being her main focus.

Weiss bit her lower lips and put an arm around her, bringing her closer into a semi-hug, deciding that perhaps physical contact could make the girl focus on something else. It did partially work as she saw her silver eyes glance up at her, accompanied by a weak smile. "You weren't so surprised about the store that we have close to our home."

"Oh because I knew that there were like, big stores. But I thought they are just like that one you mentioned. Not… Not like this!" Ruby moved away from Weiss and spread her arms to showcase the size of the single shelf before her.

The Schnee just chuckled. "Right, let's move on." With that she started to push the cart in front of her, it didn't take long before she heard the voice of the Faunus girl behind her, making her stop and glance at her.

"Whoa!" There she was, standing in front of the mustard shelf.

"Ruby, will you be amazed by each product?" She tried to ignore the weird glances some passerby people send their way, this was definitely not any sort of attention she wanted to have.

The dog girl skipped to her with a giggle. "Nope, I'm just kidding!" She grinned and wanted to move ahead, but Weiss surprised even herself with how fast her reaction time was at the moment, as she grabbed the girl's tail, making her yelp and stop dead in her track.

"Ruby, if you run around the store I'll pull your tail so hard that I'll make your ears go back inside your head." She frowned as she glanced at the redhead. Those were the moments she disliked the most, the moments where she had to be the responsible one, not for herself but for someone else. An example of a situation that made her have all those doubts and regrets.

The dog girl lowered her head and looked to the side. "I'm sorry." She mumbled as her ears went flat against her hair. This was the second part, while she knew that she was right, just looking at Ruby while she was like this made her soften up and feel guilty over scolding her.

"Ruby, you can't just run around, especially not in a place like this. You might bump into someone and then the two of you can collapse and at best you and the other person will just do that on the floor, but what if you or they fall into one of those shelves? We'd have to pay for the ruined products not to mention if something broke." While her expression did soften, she still looked at the girl with a firm stare.

The dog girl took a few glances at her but for whatever reason decided to not focus her gaze on her and after a moment of silence she heard the girl mumble something. She thought it had to be an apology, so she did the only reasonable thing. "I can't hear you, Ruby."

"It's because I'm happy." She repeated louder and… That was nothing she expected to hear.

"Excuse me?" She blinked, glancing at the girl in surprise.

The additional attention didn't do her well, but Ruby took a deep breath and continued. "It's because I'm happy. We're out doing things together, we don't really go out that much. Or spend time together. You're always busy." She blinked her silver eyes and quickly followed up. "N-Not that I mind, I mean I do but I understand you have to!" She nodded and rubbed her neck. "You drive me to Blake or take me to the store nearby, but you're always in a hurry so it's hard to enjoy those moments. You took me to see Summer's grave a few times but it's different." The dog girl let out a soft sigh. "So I'm happy because we're spending time together, most of the day so far." A small smile appeared on her lips as Ruby managed to focus her gaze on Weiss for a long moment. "I like it." But just as soon as those words left her mouth she immediately glanced to the side. "But I understand I should be careful. I'm sorry."

This, what should she even do with a situation like this? Weiss didn't know, but she had to do something, not like life would wait. This wasn't a choose your own adventure book or anything like that. She was annoyed because after hearing all that, she felt horrible. She was glad because Ruby was honest. But to top it all of why here and now? In a store? She took a deep breath and placed a hand on top of her head, ruffling her hair. "We can talk about it when we get home, alright? About me being busy. For now, I'm glad you understand that you should be careful." She received a silent nod from the Faunus girl and while she still wearing the same soft smile from before, Weiss wasn't sure if this was a good or bad sign. Or was she overthinking things?

"Now come on, let's at least see what they have to offer while we're here and still have some time before the bus arrives." With that she once more started to push the cart, pleased with the fact that Ruby started to walk beside her, although it took a moment before she started to glance around curiously at various things. This gave Weiss a moment to think as they just mindlessly moved between countless aisles there were.

Once the annoyance faded away and she somehow buried that dark little voice inside her head, she started to feel bad. Did she force Ruby to say all that? It was because of what happened in the clothing store. Were Faunus taught to react for to subtle cues like that, unaware of that? She leaned heavily against the cart. Maybe Ruby was just honest for the sake of being honest and she was double honest since she didn't want to wait for a more appropriate place to talk about what she really thought. After a moment of consideration she just smiled, all of this meant she just cared, didn't it?

"Weiss?" Ruby's voice brought her back to earth as she glanced at the redhead.

"Yes?" She asked as the dog girl looked at her curiously.

"You were just… Quiet for a long time and had this worried expression and then you suddenly had this big smile and I wasn't sure if something happened." The confusion and worry in the dog girl's voice made her ears heat up in embarrassment. Was she really letting all her thoughts show on her face like that? She was really losing her cool.

"It was nothing Ruby, I… I was just thinking about what bread should we get." She nodded, having to improvise some sort of excuse that wouldn't make her have to explain her mess of thoughts.

"But we already got some bread." The redhead tilted her head, now more confused than worried.

"Err we did?" Weiss glanced at the cart she was pushing all this time and did notice a single loaf of bread. "W-Well then, the issue solved itself. Now let's go!" She announced and started to walk extra fast, leaving Ruby too surprised to react at first and making her have to catch up to her.

"Weiss! Wait up! You told me not to run yourself." She heard the girl's voice behind her which made her smile and as soon as she slowed down something caught her attention. It was one of those book planners, that wasn't anything unusual, but what got her attention was that it was Faunus themed… Not only that, but the foil that kept the thing safely inside had miniature photos of the Faunus that she assumed one could find inside. One of those miniatures was Ruby.

She reached out for it and took a closer look, as if not sure if she saw it right. But sure enough, there it was, Ruby herself. At first, she was confused, who and why and when, but it didn't take long for her brain to catch up. She did agree to this, didn't she? Although at the time she didn't know that the woman she talked to, Coco was it? Would go with it. She just thought it was a sign of her goodwill to help her out, but sure enough, she used those photos. And it didn't take long enough since the session.

"That's me!" Ruby glanced over her arm at the bundle of miniature pictures, her silver eyes fishing out herself in the collage.

"Yes, you did have a photo session." She smiled at the girl who blushed as the realization had to hit her about her photo being seen by a larger crowd of people. Yet while she smiled, she was also annoyed. It just now occurred to her what it all meant, that a lot of people would look at her, at Ruby. Find her cute or pretty or whatever it is they would. She clenched her jaw at that thought. What if some pervert bought this? What if he slobbered all over her picture.

She took a deep breath, stopping this snowball of anger before it got too big. They had to, and she was grateful that she didn't agree on the… Another style of a photo session. In here Ruby just looked nice, pretty, cute. Nothing else, she wasn't half naked or something like that. So far only she saw her like that.

She let out a sigh as she put the planner back on the shelf. She understood what this was, jealousy, wasn't it? As they both began to walk in silence, neither of them sure how to comment on this situation, Weiss got a weird idea, something that would hopefully put her mind at ease, at least partially. Something that she'd never thought she would do, at least not before all this madness began. She just hoped it wouldn't rain, that would make her plans that much less convenient.

OooOOOooo

It had to happen, it just had to. It loomed over the city the whole day and as soon as she had to go somewhere without a roof, it started. Rain. She wasn't surprised by that, no, after all, she did take her umbrella with her, still walking in the rain wasn't her idea of fun. Staying home and listen to the rain rhythmically tap at her window, that was relaxing. This was just obnoxious.

After they got home and ate, she told Ruby that she had to go and take care of something, she added that it was about her staying at her place which seemed to quiet the girl down and make her not ask any questions. It did make her feel a bit guilty that she had to worry the dog girl in order to get away with what she had planned, but then again what was she to tell her? It would all just sound weird. It already did in her own head to the point that she didn't believe herself that she was still going with this crazy plan.

And the rain? It all started when she left the flower shop, carrying a single flower with herself that she bought for way too much than she thought it would cost, but still, it was, in a way, part of her genius plan, cue the sarcasm.

To add to it all, whatever gods looked at her that day decided that it wasn't enough, and soon she heard a honking sound next to herself, seeing a sports car stop by, the dark window slowly moved down and she saw Neptune leaning over and grinning at her. "Hey princess, need a ride?"

While this was an easy question to answer, offering a simple no, for some reason she decided against it. "Very well." She answered as she approached the car.

"Eh?! What? Really?" The shocked expression on the boy's face was a reward on itself.

"Was it an empty offer? Because if so I'll just go wait for a bus." She very slowly began to turn around towards said bus stop.

"No, no! Hop in." Neptune opened the door for her and allowed her to get on the passenger seat. She sat in, carefully to shake her umbrella and close it, which didn't help as much as she hoped for, soaking the small carpets under the seat.

"I apologize for making a mess." She let out a sigh as she secured her seat belt around herself. Seconds later they were driving down the street.

"So where to?" The boy asked as he glanced at her curiously.

"Cemetery." She offered a short reply.

"Eh? Alright, so what's with all the visit over there all of a sudden?" He asked as he took a turn in the direction that she asked him to go.

"How do you know I haven't been there before and I haven't visited regularly." She didn't even look at him, just lazily observed the outside world as it blurred before her, only things she could make out were the rain droplets on the window.

"A wild guess, first time I see you there was with a Faunus you suddenly got. Thought it has something to do with that, although I'm not sure what since she's not with you. Did she run away and you think she's at the cemetery? You seemed pretty attached to her back then, enough to even agree to let me drive you there." As he kept on talking she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Look if you stop the car I can just walk there by myself." She let out an annoyed growl. Did he expect her to say something for the fact that she agreed to his offer? If he didn't want to drive her anywhere then why even bother asking. As if she didn't have enough on her plate already with Ruby and all that. Why did she agree to this in the first place?

"Fine, fine, sheesh," Neptune said in a defensive manner, after which he became silent. This had to be awkward for the boy, she knew it. Driving a girl he liked that was annoyed, especially that whenever he asked to help her out in any manner she refused, and once she did agree he managed to just fuel her weird mood from the last day and a half.

"So… Why did you hit me back then?" It seemed that the awkward silence was getting too heavy for the blue-haired boy, as he decided to ask about the most inappropriate thing in order to try and lighten the mood. Or was it all a ploy and on purpose, she wondered.

"If you want to sue me, just go ahead. I won't let you blackmail me into anything." She replied, and while she wanted for her voice to sound angry, she couldn't even fool herself. It came out tired at best, exhausted at worst. Just remembering that stupid dream from before made her sigh.

"Sue? Blackmail? Weiss, what are you talking about?" Neptune seemed genuinely surprised by her words, which in return confused her.

"You did that to Yang when she did the same to you." She frowned, did he forget? Or did she get special treatment because he liked her?

"The same thing? Weiss, she broke my arm and my smartphone. I'd take your slap any day if I had to choose between it and that brute's way of dealing with people." That was right, Yang did treat him a bit more harshly. Did she do it again? Did she worry over a thing that wouldn't happen? She was really losing her cool lately.

"Right, well… There's that." She shrugged.

"Were you worried I'd sue you?" She felt his eyes on her for a moment before they went back to look at the road before them.

"Maybe, I know Yang was sentenced to work out some hours in some place for violence victims, but I don't really have time to spare, nor money in case it would be a fee." She once more shrugged, now feeling silly.

"What's with you lately? I mean, I know I don't know you as well as I would want to, but even I can see that you're not doing that well lately. Could see that even back at the slap day, I thought you just had an exhausting day but seeing you now and still in a similar shape? Can't help but worry. You're not sick, are you?"

"I'm not." While that was all she wanted to say, it was more difficult with every moment to just keep all of it inside. "Just, a lot on my mind lately." She offered a follow-up, to weasel herself from both her own mind and Neptune's curiosity.

"If you say so." It was his turn to shrug. This made another pause in their conversation, as silence lingered between them. Was she being too harsh? Not sure what to do, she just decided to let some of her thoughts leak out.

"Hey, Neptune? Do you ever get dark thoughts?" She asked quietly, and she had to wonder if he even heard her, as there was no reply for a good few moments.

"Dark thoughts? Like what?" He finally asked.

"Telling you to do things you normally consider bad." Was this a good definition? She didn't really have any good definition for dark thoughts, she wasn't even sure if the term dark thoughts were fitting of what she had all day today.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean isn't it normal to have those? To use basic terms, being good can be exhausting, and once that energy is depleted you get those thoughts that give you simple solutions, lazy solutions, and fast solutions. Often all at once." He paused, sending another glance her way. "You getting those lately?"

"Maybe." She answered, and while her words didn't admit to anything, both of them knew what she meant by that.

"That explains why you look so exhausted, or rather those can be explained by the fact that you look so exhausted. You really need some rest, Weiss." She wanted to brush aside his worried tone, but in the end, she knew he was right. Maybe she just needed someone to tell her that? She really could use a drink… And Yang. She already knew it'll be a long evening if that will happen anytime soon.

"Weiss? Whatever you're thinking and you consider those thoughts dark, just remember that the fact you consider them to be negative makes you a better person. It's normal to have them. I'd be more worried if you ever stop having them since that would mean they became your normal thoughts." He chuckled and it did make her smile, dimly, but it had its effect.

Lucky for her, since if this continued for a bit longer she might start liking Neptune more than she would want to, they were getting close to the cemetery, as she saw the gate in the background loom over the parking lot as the rain and late hour did make it appear a bit like out of some horror movie. Not that she believed in any of that, but it did look creepy.

Neptune parked close to the gate and she took a deep breath. "Thank you, both for the ride and the talk. Although if you tell anyone about it I'll send Yang after you, got it?" She sent him a stern look.

"Fine, fine! No need to make intimidating promises like that. Want me to wait for you?" He asked, his hand close to the keys as he wasn't sure if he should turn the engine off.

"No, I'll go back by bus. I'm not sure how long it'll take and besides, after that I might linger here or there. Still, I appreciate your offer." She smiled at him as she exited his car, her umbrella already opened to protect her from the rain.

"So how about a kiss for the-" Weiss cut him off shortly as she slammed the door of the car and started to walk towards the gate. He'll never change, will he?

oooOOOooo

It was weird how she remembered where to find the grave she was looking for, how easy it was to find the resting place of a person she didn't even know when she was alive. Yet here she was, the rain and approaching late hour scared off anyone who would visit, but not Weiss, no. She came here to… She came here to what exactly? It all made sense to her before coming here and once she actually got here, what exactly did she wanted to do? And what would be the outcome of her actions?

She crouched in front of the tomb, glancing at the name of the person. Summer Rose. She let out a soft sigh, placing the white rose she bought on top of it. How silly she felt right now, but she didn't endure all of this just to go back.

She glanced to the side, while it was… Semi-normal for people to do what she was about to do, she still felt a bit uneasy and ashamed. With one last deep breath, she began. "I officially became the caretaker of Ruby." She muttered, was it important how loud she talked?

"I guess that if there's some way dead people can hear or see or whatever, I wanted to let you know." She continued and closed her eyes. "If there's some divine power you have, even strong enough to nudge the events of something, I wanted to ask you for a favor. Not for myself, but for Ruby." She didn't really believe in any of this, then again if that was true why was she here in the first place?

"I want you to keep an eye on her, on Ruby. I want you to keep her safe." She felt her throat grow tight as she knew what she had to say next. "But not from the outside world, I think that's my job now. I'll keep her safe from any dangers from the outside. But I'm afraid I won't be able to keep her safe from things that lurk inside." She opened her blue eyes and glanced at the tomb as if she saw a person there. "I want you to keep her safe from myself. I'll do my best, but there are dark thoughts and desires brewing inside my mind and heart and while I want to do my best, I know I can be weak at times. I don't want to hurt her. So please, keep her safe." She remained in her position for a bit longer, thinking if there was anything else she wanted to say. As she focused on the turmoil inside her head, it took her a moment to notice that the rumbling against her umbrella was slowing down and as she looked up she noticed that indeed the rain was slowing down only to stop moments later.

There was no sudden sunshine centered at her or anything like that, but she decided that it was good enough of a sign, even if it wasn't truly the spirit of a dead person hearing her out, it gave her some reassurance that perhaps she was just overly paranoid.

"I'll bring Ruby next Sunday, I'm sure she'll want to tell you all about her new home." As she spoke those words, a sad smile was painted on her lips. With one last nod towards the grave, she started to walk off, not sure what's a proper way to say goodbye to a dead person.

As for her own life? She had some good news for a certain Faunus girl and at least one friend who would love to hear it as well… And most likely talk her into some celebrating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter would be like a month earlier, but I decided to basically rewrite it completely. As in, the scenes are the same, just I rewrote them, some scenes got one rewrite, some got two.
> 
> Why? Well, two reasons, although both of those reasons are tied together. See, I have a rule that if at least one person found some enjoyment in what I write, I consider this a success. Because what's a better reward than make someone entertained even if for five to fifteen minutes? They might smile and decide that this was worth the small amount of time they spent to read my story. The "issue" begins when a lot of people like something I wrote, like this story. Because now I'm worried that I have a lot of people that like this and I don't want to disappoint any of them, I want to deliver the best I can.
> 
> The second reason was the content of the chapter itself, I decided to spin the overall idea a bit. While the idea of both of them being unaware of their feelings was somewhat cute, I considered that it could grow annoying and frustrating in the long run. And I know that kind of stories have to be frustrating when two dorks have no idea they really love each other. Still, it's not something I'd wanted to do. This way (the way I decided to go) I can explore issues and problems that won't break the casual slice of life feeling I'm trying to give this story, but at the same time, they'll feel real and something that people can in some way relate to. I'm not trying to make Citrus here (Just kidding! Although that ending was rushed as hell… If you know what I'm talking about, you get it. If not? Well there you have it.)
> 
> Although I have something to admit to, most of my summer writing was cut short due to Monster Hunter World coming out for PC. Holy crap I have never thought I could get into a game that much again as I did with it. I thought games were dead to me and welp here we are, with me wasting time on MHW.
> 
> Although that was August, in July my romance/story/whatever desires were fueled by a certain visual novel "Kindred Spirits on the roof" which I highly recommend, one of the better visual novels, while I usually enjoy them for how cheesy they are, this one seemed… Just a good story with some nice visuals and nice music.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, see you next time!


	21. Bonds

„For our new family member! Cheers!" Yang grinned as she rose her glass, soon clinking of glass echoed in the room. It wasn't much, just two bottles of wine for them and some soda for the Faunus girls. Yang promised that this was top of the lowest, which Weiss had to agree to, as it didn't have the aftertaste of a sulfur mine… Or whatever it's called where they extracted or made sulfur. It was still a fruity drink that was a wine only in name, although she never really got into any specifics about what could and could not be called a wine. Perhaps one day.

As for the soda, that could be more expensive, a few bucks here or there didn't hurt anyone, jump in quality came for a lower price in that regard, unlike alcohol. While Yang initially wanted to call it a party, it was far from anything like that. Or maybe that was how such parties should be? Just an evening among your friends with a nice drink and some positive emotions. She was happy that Yang offered their place, it was bigger and could contain four people more easily, not that her place was small but it could get easily crowded. Besides the last meet up was at their place, so it's just fair that this one was at Yang's spot.

"Family? We're family now, Yang?" While she didn't want to ruin the toast, Weiss's eyebrow still rose at the blonde's statement.

"Duh, we're like a dysfunctional family! Don't you know? You have two families in life, one you're born into and one you choose yourself." The taller girl winked at her, which made her smile.

"You're right, you girls are the only thing I have." She nodded with a sigh, how small her world was. "But I'm happy now, more than I ever was before when I had more."

"Well duh, it's called quality over quantity" With another grin Yang brought an arm around her and dragged her closer into a half hug.

"Y-Yang! Carefully, I'll spill my drink because of you. Are you already drunk? After one sip?" She frowned.

"Drunk on happiness maybe." The blonde chuckled.

"It's like you're more happy about this than both me and Ruby." She just rolled her eyes.

"What happened to your family?" Speaking of the dog girl, her voice, or rather question, was as if a lightning struck in the middle of the room. Everyone went silent as Weiss clenched her jaw, lowering her gaze. Yang just winced at that, looking at Blake who just shrugged.

"You didn't…?" The taller girl whispered, to which Weiss shook her head lightly. Ruby wasn't obvious to the mood shift, as her ears lowered, her silver eyes gazing between everyone in the room.

"Did I say something wrong?" The dog girl asked quietly, now her own eyes doing the same as her owner's.

"Eh, well that's sort of..." Yang started but was cut off by Weiss.

"That's a discussion for some other time, Ruby." With a deep breath, she offered a smile to the younger of the two faunus.

"How do you like your new collar, Ruby? And did you pick it yourself?" While Blake initially stayed out of the awkward discussion, she decided to chime in to change the topic, which seemed to work, artificially, but it was a step in the right direction as everyone's eyes were on the girl's new collar.

The thing in question being crimson red, with a silver round tag and a rose engraved on the front. Inside of it, by now, was a chip with all the required information about both her and the officially registered owner.

"O-Oh yes I did. Weiss allowed me to pick whatever I liked. I liked the color of the collar and I picked this tag because this way I can move on without forgetting." Ruby smiled as her fingers reached to gently take the metal tag between them.

"Sounds cryptic," Yang commented as she took a sip of her wine.

"I think it's poetic and very clever." Weiss nodded approvingly towards Ruby, which just made the girl's smile that much bigger. "We had this talk before, the rose on the tag is so that she can always remember her previous owner, while inside the tag is a chip that makes me an official guardian of her. That's what it means to move on but remember."

"Well didn't this party turned out to be some serious business." The blonde responded.

"I think that's a nice way of coping with loss and trying to manage your present life." Blake joined in, as she smiled at the dog girl and wrapped an arm around her.

"Et Tu, Blake?" Yang rose her arms towards the ceiling, although as Ruby sent her a worried glance she just winked at the Faunus girl, making sure she knew it was all pretend.

oooOOOooo

"So what are your plans now? Both of you, since it's about your life together now." Blake's bomb of a question stopped any pointless chatter that was happening, and while it wasn't a surprise to hear such a question, Weiss had to pause to collect her thought on that specific topic.

"School for Ruby, she needs to get herself a few basic licenses so that later she can walk by herself around the city, help me with groceries when I'm at work or maybe in some near or far away future help the house budget with a job." Weiss nodded at her own words.

The cat girl nudged her dog companion. "You alright with this plan? I can scratch her till she changes her mind, both of you have to agree to that, you know." Blake smirked at Weiss, the white-haired girl just raised a brow as her blue eyes moved to settle on Ruby.

"I am, I want to help and have a purpose, learning is a nice enough purpose for now." The redhead clenched her fist as her face rose up with determination.

"Did you teach her to react that way?" Yang leaned over Weiss as she glanced at the dog girl.

"I… did not. It'll take time to adjust, just let her have those moments." Weiss smiled awkwardly as her eyes moved between her friend and the dog girl.

"Did I do something weird?" Ruby's confidence quickly melted as she noticed the reaction from both the humans in the room.

"No, they're just being mean," Blake said as she pulled Ruby into a hug, more so to cover up the stare she sent towards Yang, the blonde smiling sheepishly and offering a shrug in return.

oooOOOooo

"Blake?" Ruby peeked up at the cat girl, against which she was leaning with her back.

"Mmm?" The black haired girl hummed as she took a sip of her soda, glancing down to meet the other girl's eyes.

"What did you have for dinner today?" The redhead asked as curiosity sparkled behind her silver eyes. Blake raised a brow at that, not sure why her meals should be that interesting, but with a shrug decided that it wouldn't harm anyone if she answered.

"We had some leftover meat from yesterday, so I cut that into smaller pieces, added some veggies and we had that with rice, why? Are you hungry?" Blake glanced between Ruby and Weiss, not sure if she should propose anything to eat.

"We ate before we came here." Weiss answered as if she was accused of starving the redhead.

"Well, we did eat, yes… But..." Ruby lowered her eyes.

"Yes?" Blake nudged the girl for her to continue.

"…Weiss can't cook." She mumbled.

"Did you not like what she made?" Blake still wasn't sure what this was about. Was she complaining? If that was the case she was doing so in a strange way.

Weiss let out a deep sigh. "We eat premade meals, you do remember I can't cook, right?"

"Wouldn't making your own meals be cheaper?" Blake scratched the back of her head, she was doing most of the cooking so she understood how much cheaper certain things were the more work you had to put into things to make it into a meal.

"Blake, which part of I can't cook did you not understand." The Schnee rolled her eyes and took a sip of her drink.

"What's so hard about cooking?" The cat girl frowned.

"Well, imagine that Yang was now cooking from now on for both of you." Weiss nodded towards the blonde sitting beside her.

"Hey!" The girl in question protested.

"Good point." Blake frowned and nodded.

"Excuse me? I'm still here if you forgot." The blonde crossed her arms.

"As long as you're in the kitchen, you can be wherever you want." Blake poked her tongue at her owner, to which the latter just pouted and looked away.

"I didn't mean to complain." Ruby scratched her cheek and without anything else to do, she took a sip of her drink.

"It's alright Ruby, I know you prefer to eat when you're here." Weiss smiled at the girl, wanting to let her know that it truly wasn't that big of an issue.

"How about I teach Ruby how to cook?" Blake offered with a smile.

"No, not yet. I want her to focus on getting her licenses first, at least the basic ones." The Schnee shook her head.

"Then you better learn a meal or two to prepare before that, you can't feed her that stuff all the time, Weiss you can do with your life what you want, but you're responsible for Ruby now, at least till she can order her own food or make her own food." It was Blake's turn to cross her arms as she sent a stern look at Ruby's owner.

"I know I know… I'll figure something out, promise. At worst I'll ask you for help." Weiss looked to the floor in defeat, only to feel an arm wrap itself around her.

"It'll be fine, Blake just tries to motivate you to give it a shot. It's always different when you're doing things for yourself and when you do it for someone else. You put that extra something!" The way Yang grinned was enough to make her smile and there was some truth behind her words, a quick glance at Blake, who did in fact nod at her owner's words, made it that much more believable.

"I'll try as soon as I catch up with things I had to drop because of the adoption process." She nodded, maybe it would be different now if she knew that there was someone else that counts on her… And her potential cooking abilities.

oooOOOooo

Amidst all the casual chatter Weiss haven't noticed that Ruby moved closer to her, only once the girl placed her chin on top of her lap did that fact register inside her head. She looked down and smiled at the redhead. "Yes, Ruby?"

The dog girl frowned at that. "You smell," Ruby said, only to follow up as if understanding that it could be taken as a random insult. "Of alcohol I mean."

Weiss just rolled her eyes at that. "Blake rubs off on you." She smirked.

"Blake doesn't rub me." The girl protested.

"I hope not!" Yang chimed in with her protest.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Blake joined in as her brow rose up in surprise.

"So you want to Rub Ruby?" The blonde squinted as she looked at the cat girl.

"I don't want to rub Ruby?" The girl in question answered although it sounded more like a question than anything.

"You don't?" Ruby looked away from Weiss and looked at Blake sounding as if she was hurt by her answer.

"It's not that I don't want to rub Ruby!" Feeling that she was between a rock and a hard place, Blake started to back paddle on her answer.

"So you do want to rub Ruby?" Yang pouted.

"Hey!" Weiss rose her voice as she moved from the couch and lowered herself, pulling Ruby into a tight hug." Ruby's mine and only I can rub Ruby." She kept her squeezed close like a plushie, the girl in question squirming in her arms, muttering how she still smelled of alcohol.

And as the two struggled, Blake and Yang shared a knowing smile.

oooOOOooo

As time went by, the hour became late and the sky darkened but only when Ruby yawned, did Weiss notice the time. "Getting sleepy Ruby?" The girl nodded and the Schnee placed her glass on the table. "I guess it's time to wrap things up." She was about to stand up but was stopped by a strong grip on her shoulder. She rose her eyebrow and glanced at the source of the grip, Yang.

"How about you two stay for the night? It's already pretty late and tomorrow's Sunday anyway." The blonde offered with a smile.

"Stay? We haven't brought anything for a sleepover or anything like that, we can't really stay." Weiss frowned at that.

Her host just rolled her eyes at the stubbornness of the white-haired girl. "Weiss, I know you won't agree if I say you're drunk, but you're at least tipsy. It's late and you'll have to wait for the night bus. You think you'll be fine, not just by yourself but with Ruby by your side?"

Weiss wanted to retort with something, but all her ideas weren't that clever and had plenty of drawbacks, and that frustrated her. She hated not having a solution of her own. "We still can't stay, we don't have anything to change and all that."

"We'll improvise something, Weiss this isn't the first time you'd stay here like that. Don't let me have to convince you again that this is for your own good. And additionally for Ruby's good as well." Yang grinned and the Schnee knew why, it's because just saying the name of the dog girl made her more eager to comply with her demands, even if by a little bit.

She leaned against the backrest of the couch with a defeated sigh. "Fine."

"I guess that means you'll be staying over for the night." Blake offered a smile to the dog girl as she stood up and offered her hand to help the other girl to do the same.

"Mmm..." Ruby just nodded and yawned again, getting up with the help of the cat girl. "That's alright, where will I sleep?"

"Since Yang offered to take the floor..."

"I did not!"

"… You'll take our bed, come on let's get you ready to sleep. I'm sure we can find something you can use as provisional pajamas." With that Blake lead Ruby towards the small bedroom.

"What about me?" Weiss glanced at Yang. "I mean, we know you sleep on the ground and Blake most likely will find herself a comfy spot." She smirked, which turned into a grin as she heard the blonde's grunt at her comment.

"I swear I sometimes feel like I'm the one wearing a collar in this house." She let out a sigh followed by a chuckle. "Hm… Most likely with Ruby? I think at least. But you're not yet sleepy, are you? You usually last a bit longer." Yang nudged her to which she just shrugged.

"I'm not, but I want to know where I can lay down once I reach that state of exhaustion." She reached for her glass and emptied it.

"Fair enough!" Yang grinned as she reached for the second bottle, opening it and pouring its content for both of their glasses.

oooOOOooo

"Blake isn't coming back for a long time now." Weiss frowned as she glanced at the doors leading to the bedroom.

"True, does Ruby require some… Special treatment before sleep? Like a bed story or something like that?" Yang raised a brow as she glanced between the door and the girl sitting next to her.

"Not really, we just go to bed and that's it." Weiss shrugged, she never really had to do anything special to make Ruby sleep, she wasn't a pup or anything like that to have issues sleeping.

"I'll check on them." Yang rose up and after a second of trying to maintain balance, she slowly moved towards the second room. Weiss observed as the blonde gently opened the doors enough for her head to be able to peek in. After a moment she closed them again, a smirk on her lips.

"What? What happened? What's with the smile?" She asked, not sure what this sort of reaction from her friend could mean at a time like this.

"Think you'll be taking the couch here." Yang sat down heavily with a huff, reaching for her glass and taking a sip.

"Why? Yang, come on, tell me what happened." She nudged the taller girl, her brain empty of ideas of what could possibly happen.

"Blake and Ruby took the bed." The blonde finally explained with a smile. That made Weiss frown, that meant they shared the bed right? Like she normally did with Ruby. Although Blake was acting in a very specific way towards the dog girl all this time.

"Blake sure is protective over Ruby." She finally spoke her mind, for some reason she wasn't angry at the fact that the cat girl took her spot. She trusted both of them, not that any of them were obliged to remain in any way loyal to her, not in this way at least.

Yang glanced at her glass thoughtfully. "I think it's because she feels responsible."

"Responsible for what?" Weiss tilted her head, not sure what the blonde was talking about. Why would Blake feel responsible for anything? Because she convinced her to keep Ruby? Or tried at least.

"Eh? Oh erm…" Yang rubbed the back of her neck. "I mean like, you know… Her being the more experienced one? Like an older sister!" She snapped her fingers at that.

"That… Does make sense." Weiss offered a slow nod. That did fit with being protective over the girl, some sort of Faunus thing? No that's… That's just dumb. Humans do that as well, friends do that all the time.

"Yep, totally normal." Yang nodded.

"So what about you?" Weiss glanced at the girl beside her.

"What about me?" She asked as she reached to pour the last of what the bottle had to offer, trying to equally share it between their glasses.

"Where will you sleep? You do have a plan for that, right? It won't really be the ground?" Weiss frowned, if Yang had nowhere to sleep, she'd rather sleep sitting and offer for her friend to do the same. No way will she allow for the girl to actually lay on the floor like that.

"Eh, we have this soft thing to lay on the ground, you know so you don't lay on the hard floor like that. We got it in case we'd get more guests to sleep over for whatever reason. I'll grab a pillow and a blanket and I'll be okay for one night, no need to worry about me." Yang waved her hand dismissively.

In a way that did make Weiss a bit jealous over how prepared Yang was at a time, she might ask her for notes and such, but when it came for the practical stuff? The girl always seemed to have something stored to just fit the occasion. Or was she just drunk and impressed by mundane things? Was this how man picked up drunk ladies at bars? Because said ladies were easily impressed?

oooOOOooo

Weiss observed her glass intently, she was considering something important inside her head. First, if she even should and then how to even approach the said topic. Something finally clicked inside her head and she took a deep breath. "Yang? Can I ask you something?"

"Ho'boy, that sounds serious. Sure, shoot." The blonde placed her now empty glass down onto the table and turned to the side to face her.

"Yang, I'm not joking, I really have an important question." She crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Hey! I didn't say you were joking, it really sounded like it's something important, so feel free to ask." Yang rose her hands in a defensive manner.

"And now you're putting pressure on me!" She covered her face with her hands.

"I'm sorry? Do you want me to tell a bad joke to loosen the mood a little?" Yang rubbed the side of her neck, dealing with drunk Weiss was always a tiny bit draining, although not as bad as with different types of drunk she dealt with in the past.

"No! No, it's fine." Weiss took another deep breath to collect her thoughts. "I… Would you mind… No that's stupid." She paused and chewed the inside of her cheek as she attempted to form the question inside her head.

"Weiss? Just ask what's on your mind, I won't laugh or anything." The blonde smiled, not a smirk or a grin, but just a smile. A friendly smile which luckily did help her clear her mind enough to form her question.

"Would you think differently of me if… If I was gay?" She closed her eyes as if preparing for the worst.

"Eh?" Was the first reaction from Yang, surprise. She didn't expect anything else. She never really talked about dating or anything like relationships, so dropping this sort of bomb about sexuality? That had to have some impact at least. "Alright, I'll give you an answer but… But answer me this first, how do you know that you're gay?"

"What do you mean?" Weiss frowned, she didn't expect a counter question and to top it off this sort of question.

"Well, often people just get confused with their own sexuality or they just think they are gay or bisexual or whatever. Nothing wrong with thought experiments, but… But if you really think you are I want to be sure that you won't hurt yourself in case you're wrong… Yourself or someone else by accident." Yang reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, her expression painted with worry.

Was this it? Was it all in her head? No, it couldn't be. It was because of Ruby and it didn't just happen overnight. It went on for a longer period of time, shortly after she started living with her. But she couldn't tell her, at least not yet. "Yang? Do you trust me?"

"Of course." The blonde nodded.

"Then… Then if I tell you that I know that I'm gay and I'm sure of it, will you trust me with that?" She clenched her jaw, not sure what Yang would say to that. They were friends and while initially, that could mean she would believe her, there was the fact that she wanted to make sure she wouldn't hurt herself as she claimed before which could mean she would drill her further about the issue and that's something she didn't want to deal with, not right now.

"Alright, I trust you." The blonde smiled and nodded. "And I won't think differently of you, you're still my friend, Weiss. I would think that you knew the answer without having to ask for it." She chuckled.

Weiss bit her lower lip at that. "I just wanted to hear it. With everything happening lately I really needed some sort of reassurance from the outside." She lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Yang reached out and gently grabbed her chin, raising it up so that she could look her in the eyes. "I understand, I'm not upset so don't worry about it." With that said she pulled her into a hug, something that Weiss was more than eager to return, feeling relieved. A feeling that she hadn't felt for a bit now or at least it felt that way to her.

oooOOOooo

Weiss wriggled around, not that she wasn't glad for a spot to sleep, but the couch wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep, maybe for some, but not for her, she was in no way used to sleeping with so little room to move around. It didn't help that her mind was still a mess with everything that happened both yesterday and today, the good and the bad.

She finally had enough and opened her eyes, the room was coated in darkness and it took a moment before her eyes got adjusted to it, soon she saw all the shapes in the room, including Yang laying on the floor. Yet she wasn't really in any sleeping position, at least for her taste, as she was laying with her folded arms underneath her head and if her eyes were open she'd be staring at the ceiling.

"Yang?" She called out in a whisper, wanting to know if the girl was sleeping or not.

"Yeah?" The blonde answered without looking her way, which made sense, not like they could see each other.

"Why aren't you asleep?" She asked, knowing very well that it could be countered with the same type of question, still not knowing how to ask differently she just decided to go with it.

"Just have some things on my mind, that's all." Yang tilted her head to look her way and she could half imagine half make out the smile in the darkness that the blonde would wear.

Of course, while it was strange and awful it was also a fact that she completely forgot that Yang had to have her own issues in life. It's not like life was a movie and she was the main character as such the only issues that were presented would be hers. She let out a soft sigh at that.

"What about you?" After a moment of silence, the blonde asked.

"I'm sorry Yang." Instead of answering with something generic she decided to just jump onto a more important topic.

"About what?" Her words had to surprise the other girl, as she once more tilted her head to look her way, the confusion clearly audible in her voice.

"With all of my stuff with Ruby and all that I completely forgot that you have your own things you need to worry about." Life was never easy, she wasn't sure if it was the alcohol that made her think this way and feel this way but it's not like it wasn't the truth. She forgot about it.

"Hey, Weiss?" Yang's voice got her to focus on the real world once more, as she saw the girl raise her arm towards her with her hand open.

It was an invitation of course and after a moment she accepted it, as she took her hand, more out of curiosity than anything, knowing that the girl would just remain silent till she did accept it. Once their fingers entangled with each other, only then did she continue. "You're in a tough spot, I've been there at one point in my life. I know how difficult it is for both you and Ruby. So don't blame yourself for anything, because I know that when I get into a pickle, you'll be there for me and you won't take no for an answer if you offer to help." With that, she squeezed her hand.

She was too lucky to have people like Yang in her life. She smiled, although that would go unnoticed by the blonde, what was more important was that she decided to squeeze her hand back after which they both remained silent, both knowing that there was nothing else to be said. Soon their hands parted and Weiss turned around, trying once more to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Perhaps it was the brief interaction with Yang or just the exhaustion catching up with her but she finally managed fell asleep.

oooOOOooo

_**Bonus Scene** _

"This way Ruby." Blake led the girl into the small bedroom she shared with Yang. "The bathroom is to the right, you should wash before bed." The cat girl paused as she glanced at the redhead. "Do you need help? Or are you fine doing it yourself?" She wasn't trying to be condescending but she knew this or that to suspect that Ruby might have been one of those faunus that required help with something like that, at least for now.

"I can handle myself, I just need a towel oh and should I sleep in my clothes?" The dog girl looked at herself briefly before her silver eyes went back to Blake.

"I'll find you something, in the meantime, you go and clean yourself. Oh and use whatever towel you'll find, don't worry about it." She smiled and Ruby just nodded, going inside the bathroom.

She let out a sigh, what to get her. Shorts and a shirt, that sounded about right. Both her and Yang were taller than Weiss and Ruby was around Weiss's height. Was she taller? She wasn't, right? Well, that didn't really matter. She grabbed some black shorts from the clean pile of clothes and a black t-shirt and went inside the bathroom to offer it to Ruby.

"I'll put the clothes on the washing machine, you can put your clothes there once you've changed so it won't get lost and confused with some of our stuff tomorrow." She said, glancing briefly as the girl was washing her face.

She shrugged, seeing that she indeed could handle such basic things as cleaning herself. It made her feel a bit better since she was seriously worried that Ruby was raised to be someone that could not handle anything without an outside help, some humans did that, wanting a child that would never grow up. It would annoy her if she discovered that Ruby was treated that way, especially considering that she was a smart girl.

With all that thinking she almost didn't notice the girl leaving the bathroom. "It's sort of big." Was the first comment as she stood there wearing nothing but black. The t-shirt itself looked like a dress more than anything and Blake couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"It's just for tonight and just something you'll sleep in. Too big is better than too small, right?" She chuckled to which Ruby just shrugged.

She watched as the girl moved towards the bed. "Do you need anything else? You know where the bathroom is, I can get you a glass of water or something to drink… Anything?"

Ruby was sitting on the bed and it was very easy to notice that she was thinking about something. Blake was about to ask, but seconds before that the thought that lingered inside the redhead's head decided to leave in a form of a question. "Can you lay down with me?"

"Eh?" The cat girl blinked at that. "Why? Do you… Need someone to sleep with you?" She almost regretted her words, but she knew that Ruby would take it for what it was, so just sleeping with someone. And thank goodness Yang haven't heard it, or Weiss.

"Well, I don't need to but I feel better if I can fall asleep with someone being there. I don't really like to be alone, especially when I sleep in a new place." The dog girl grimaced slightly.

"What about Weiss?" Blake couldn't help but ask.

"She's not here yet and besides she smells of alcohol." That made Ruby frown.

"Right." She bit her lower lip only to let out a defeated sigh. "Alright, I'll lay down with you." The smile that appeared on the dog girl's face made her feel as if just agreeing to such was worth it.

Soon they laid down in the bed, covered with a blanket. It took a moment of adjustment before Blake could feel Ruby curl up against her and while she was still unsure about it, all she could do was to wrap an arm around the other girl.

It wasn't completely silent, as she could hear the murmurs from the other room, something that Ruby had to hear as well.

"You were there, weren't you?" She wasn't sure what surprised her more, hearing Ruby's voice so suddenly, the tone of voice she had or the words that left her mouth.

"Where?" She whispered back, not sure what Ruby meant.

"That night." Was all that Ruby said, and it took Blake a moment to understand what she meant. She took a deep breath, not sure what to do or say.

There was no point in keeping things a secret, right? "I was." She answered, not sure what would come next.

"Why did you act like you didn't know me when we meet with Yang and Weiss being there?" It was strange to hear Ruby like this, her voice serious and confident, not scared or playful or anything like that.

"I don't know." It was the truth, she wasn't sure. "Everything happened so fast that night and after that, I wasn't sure what to do. You acted like you didn't really remember, like shock and all that affected you to the point where you blocked the details of that night out. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lie to you."

"It came to me slowly, everything. I'm not sure what I'm expecting from you, I didn't mean to sound mad at you or anything." That made her smile a little bit if anything she didn't want to make Ruby angry with her.

"I'm still sorry. Ruby?" Since they were having this sort of mood she decided to continue their conversation, hoping the girl wouldn't suddenly fall asleep.

"Yes?" The redhead asked without even moving an inch.

"Do you think Weiss is happy with you?" It was an odd question, but she was curious about the answer she'd get.

"Yes." Came a simple reply which was nothing that she expected to hear. If anything she thought that Ruby would ask what she meant or some less confident answer at least.

"How?" She had to drill for some specifics, some details, now even more curious than before.

"Because..." There was a pause. "I'm not sure if it's the correct term, but it's because Weiss is fighting over herself just to do all those things so that she could keep me. I know that she had to fight with things outside, but I can see that she's also struggling with herself, which means that she really wants to do things for me. I like to believe it's because she's happy with me."

"Are you sure?" Blake continued, she never was an optimist and while she herself claimed to be a realist, more often than not Yang claimed she was pessimistic at nature.

"I'm not, but it's what I choose to believe. Otherwise, I'd just be sad since I don't have anything else outside of Weiss right now." That made the cat girl bit her lower lip. This was a bit too much to hear. Still, she herself trusted Weiss so there was no point in making a tragedy out of it, at least not yet.

"Are you happy with Weiss?" It made her curious now if the girl could surprise her with her answer, no longer expecting to hear the obvious from her.

"I am now," Ruby answered softly.

"You weren't before?" Did something happened at one point, or did Ruby just grow more attached to Weiss over time?

"No." Once more a very short answer, but this time she didn't think about drilling further, instead a different idea came to her mind.

"Ruby? If you ever have some weird thoughts and you're not sure what to think or something similar? Remember that you can talk to me, alright? Humans often don't understand us fully, even if we want to believe they do." It was a bit sneaky and Yang did say that they shouldn't cross a certain line with those two, but Blake was just setting things for later… Besides, she was a cat, in no way would she listen to Yang, at least not when it was entertaining this way.

"Blake?" She felt the girl move her head to glance up at her.

"Yes?" She smiled as their eyes meet.

"Thank you, for everything. Back then and now." That just made her smile grow, as she hugged the girl to herself.

"We have to protect each other, Ruby. Among humans, we have just our owners and ourselves to rely on." Her own words left a bitter aftertaste on her tongue, effectively removing the smile off her lips.

The girl didn't say anything and she could feel her breathing growing softer which meant that she finally had fallen asleep. While it wasn't her time yet, she decided to close her eyes. It was comfortable to lay beside Ruby, she knew that dog Faunus was very warm and if anything? Her catness enjoyed this extra warmth. How ironic was that for a dog and cat to sleep together like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bonus scene is there to keep with the bonus stuff being outside of Weiss's point of view or at least her being there. It was too little for a bonus chapter so I just decided to squeeze it here and call it a bonus scene.
> 
> After re-reading this chapter for proofreading purposes I thought that perhaps it would be better if I made this story differently, as in making Ruby and Yang the Faunus and Blake and Weiss the owners, that would make more sense in regards of the bonds that the characters are making. But well… It's too late now.
> 
> Initially, I wanted to ramble a lot here, but since I usually write and proofread when its super late, and doing so exhausts me additionally, I'll spare you guys my dumb thoughts. I should just make a blog, shouldn't I? I actually do have that, although it consists of me just sharing my fics there … And will have my thoughts on the upcoming episodes/volume of rwby. So yeah maybe better avoid that place.


	22. Lazy Sunday

Ceiling. It was white, but the more you looked at it, the less white it seemed. The walls were also white, but just like the ceiling, they didn't seem to be pure white. Yet there was a part of both the walls and the ceiling that was white and she remembered it had to do something with how the light angled itself and all that stuff related to physics. It was at the edges where the whiteness remained as it was the day this room was made. Which was sad, as it made a perfect example of before and after syndrome of how poorly this place had to age.

Someone could question why such thoughts lingered inside Weiss's mind, why lay there and stare at her ceiling and just let her mind roam over such trivial things. Perhaps it was cleansing itself off all the stress? Maybe she was thinking about painting the walls? Or did her life jumped so much in quality that those were the things she had to worry herself over?

The answer was neither of them and the reason for such a detailed observation of her ceiling and walls was simply because she wasn't feeling that well. Weiss wasn't good with alcohol, she suspected that just like her previous addiction, it would be easy for her to become an alcoholic. Various articles claiming that woman were to get more addicted to alcohol aside. Her physique wasn't top notch like Yang's and having a light cold through the winter was something she got used to, as it was hard to cure that without having the time to do so, with work and university and various other things in her life. Sure, she might have thought that she never had anything to do outside of work and her education before she met Ruby, but those two things more often than not required her to do things and that was perhaps why she endured with her life up till now. Or was she being melodramatic again?

Luckily for her, and to get back on track, Weiss wasn't a victim to a hangover. Unless that came in various stages then perhaps the first stage was apparent. She was just feeling lazy and not really feeling like doing anything, a bit weak and perhaps there was a desire to drink something once she got up.

So here she was, lying on her bed and just staring at the ceiling, feeling awful but thankful that they were just having some wine. She knew that the quality of alcohol got something to do how she felt, she heard that after the better stuff, no matter the type of alcohol, people rarely got hung over. Apparently not even after vodka, but that might have been just a marketing scheme.

"Are you alright?" Ruby's voice derailed her train of thoughts, although considering in what places it recently went, it was a wreck even before the redhead spoke.

"I'm alright." Came her weak reply. The next thing worth celebrating will be with just her and Ruby, maybe some pizza and soft drinks. She'd rather get fat than feel like this ever again. Then again wasn't this the famous "never again" moment after each and every alcohol filled yesterday?

"You don't look alright," Ruby said skeptically as she looked her over.

"I'm not alright." Came a more truthful response from her which made her curious how the dog girl would react to that.

"Can I do anything to help?" The girl crouched at the side of the bed and Weiss couldn't think of anything else but those hospital movies in which people were by the side of someone who was after some tragic accident.

"No..." She started but only after saying that did her mind come up with something. "...Yes." She added shortly after. Ruby grimaced as her ears mimicked Weiss's response, with one ear standing up while the other crooked itself as if to demonstrate the girl's confusion even more.

"So yes or no?" The redhead asked, making the Schnee wonder if it made the girl anxious with her being a dog Faunus and being tied in with how loyal they were. Then again that might have been just her being confused, anyone would be after hearing both yes and no to one question.

"Yes, hug me." Was it a request, a command or a plead, would remain a secret to her, but she found enough strength to spread her arms invitingly. That seemed to be something that Ruby didn't hesitate to obey, as she moved onto the bed and would gently wrap her arms around her, soon clinging to her side in a half curled position.

The first thing that came to her mind was how considerate the motion was. Usually Ruby would pounce or almost tackle if offered such a thing… Or if she just felt like she had to hug her. Yet this time the gesture was slow, warm and careful. Just that made her smile. Then came the physical warmth the girl had to her body which reminded her how cold she felt, making the hug that more welcoming. Lastly came the… Other things.

She knew that it was the texture of the hoodie that she mostly felt, but the small instances of skin that did touch her felt so soft. It made her want to feel the dog girl's skin, her face, and hands. Anything that was exposed would feel welcoming, but she knew she had to stop herself from going down that hole. Because it wasn't going anywhere nice.

"You're cold," Ruby whispered and hearing her speak in such a husky voice made her shiver. "See? You're cold." Luckily for her, the dog girl took it as a sign of her needing some warming up. Before Weiss's brain could find a response, it was working slower due to the state in which the girl woke up in, Ruby climbed on top of her and would hug her like that, carefully resting herself on her arms to not squeeze her too much, but remaining so close that she could feel the girl's heartbeat… Or was that her own? She wasn't sure anymore.

One thing she had to compliment, Ruby sure did warm her up. Although while most of it came from the girl on top of her, the rest was a certain feeling building up inside her, which made her stomach clench, her heart beat faster and her mind even hazier than before. She moved her arms to wrap them around the girl slowly, not sure if it was a gesture to make this whole thing less awkward or was there something else hidden behind that.

"Your heart is beating faster now." The redhead commented after a long moment of silence.

"I-It is?" Weiss asked it was hard for her to focus on anything, such a detail as her own heart rate was the least of her current concerns.

"Weiss? Please don't die." Weiss never was splashed with a bucket of ice cold water but she imagined that this had to be how it felt, both physically and mentally. Ruby's words were so shocking that her mind didn't even register them at first.

"What? Ruby, what are you talking about?" She asked, not sure if there was some hidden meaning behind the… Request? Plead? What was it anyway?

"Summer said the same thing." The morose tone of the dog girl sent another shiver down her spine, but this time it wasn't the good kind. It felt cold and it reminded her that she did, in fact, feel a bit chilly just laying there on the bed. And right now? Right now even the body heat of the girl on top of her didn't really help that. It felt like a fever, both cold and warm and in the confusion, her body did not feel that well about it.

"I'm not stupid, I saw it, she was getting worse. I asked if something was wrong or what was wrong, but she always said the same thing. Nothing is wrong and when I was not giving in after that she said that a hug would help." She continued and Weiss was wondering if it was good or bad that she couldn't see her face. What would lurk behind her silver eyes at a moment like this?

"Then she died." The way she spoke about it felt so empty, such a matter of fact statement about something so important. It felt shallow and it didn't escape her how exhausted her voice was when she spoke those words. The Schnee closed her eyes, was Ruby already broken past repair by this one single event in her life, or was she just fragile and in need of protection till her world would re-establish itself for her.

"It was weird, to try and live your normal life, knowing that it'll end at any time at a random moment. Smile and pretend nothing is wrong, each a cough and any other sign of weakness you noticed with your eyes or ears. Just cover them up and think of something else, focus on what's now." If the question was a nuclear explosion, what followed had to be the impact of it and now? Now it was just the aftermath. Weiss understood that she was there now to comfort the girl, that she got scared or maybe reminded of what happened before… Perhaps both? She moved her hand to slowly and gently place it on top of Ruby's head, petting her hair as she listened to the girl talk.

"At some point now turned out to be the horrible future you refuse to acknowledge. You had nothing because any planning would mean that when everything was fine, you acknowledged that grim future that would eventually come." As Weiss stroked her ears, she wondered if this was what haunted Ruby. Whenever she was alone, did those type of thoughts came to her? Guilt over… Over what exactly? Being selfish? Not thinking about the future? Pretending nothing is wrong? Did she think that she could change something if she did something… Anything back then? Did that mean she would want to avoid this fate? The fate of being bound to her by the law to be her Faunus?

"Ruby..." She paused, would it be selfish to ask that now? What if she was being selfish and it had nothing to do with the dog girl feeling bad about being with her. "...Are you happy with me?" Deep down this was her true self, selfish and arrogant, thinking that the world revolves around her. How little did she change after all? At that thought, she had to clench her teeth to keep herself focused on what's here and now.

"I wanted to tell you in the store, but you told me to do it later." Ruby began and it didn't make her feel any better. "I wasn't sure when later is so I didn't bring it up myself." Although this did, as she chooses to believe that she simply didn't know what appropriate time meant.

"It seemed like a very important discussion we should have and doing that in a crowded place with lots of random people isn't such a good idea." Excuses, it felt like she was excusing herself, like explaining why she didn't do her homework. While partially true, it still felt like an excuse. And some folks claim that only guilty feel the need to excuse their actions.

"I understood that." The redhead began and remained silent for a moment, just as Weiss was about to ask or nudge her to continue, the girl did it by herself. "I am now. But I wasn't before. Not that I was unhappy I just… I just didn't feel happy."

"I'm sorry." Left her lips before she could even think about it and even after that, she wasn't sure what else to add.

"Please don't be." For the first time through this weird conversation did Ruby raise her head, a gentle smile on her lips as she looked into her eyes. Weiss could swear that behind those silver orbs she could see a whirlpool of mixed emotions, although that could just be her own imagination… Or the reflection of what's behind her own icy blue ones.

"It's not your fault. I don't think it's anyone's fault. Life just suddenly exploded for both of us. I should apologize since… Since I'm the one who made yours do that." At that point Weiss knew what to do, and while her body complained about her to stop, her willpower forced it to obey, as she took a hold of the girl and rolled her off herself so that she'd lie beside her, moving so that both of them would be on the same level as it was her time to look into the eyes of the other girl.

"Ruby, let's not go down the stupid hole of who's at fault and what for. We need to focus on what's here and now and what's ahead of us. So I'll ask you one more time and I'll accept you answer no matter what it is. Are you happy now?" Seeing Ruby's face bright up was like glancing at the first sun rays peeking through a cloudy sky on a rainy day.

"I am," She said and nodded to which Weiss couldn't hold the sigh of relief as she brought her arms around the girl and hugged her. At that point, her body has won and she returned to her previous position, rolling onto her back with a soft grunt.

"I'm still hungover." She announced, staring at the ceiling and feeling even weaker than before. It took a moment before her vision was covered by a familiar face.

"Would a hug help?" Ruby asked with a smile.

"Always." She smiled back and closed her eyes, feeling the girl once more lay down on top of her, the warmth once more spreading through her body as she allowed herself to relax.

oooOOOooo

One dinner and sometime later Weiss was browsing the internet on her phone. The meal, while precooked, was still enough to make her regain some strength and that combined with the nap from earlier made her feel almost one hundred percent… Better? Good? It couldn't be better since that would mean that it would increase her percentage from whatever number it was, add the one hundred and then… She shook her head, that wasn't important. With a sigh she glanced at her phone, this happened a lot once she started, it really didn't help that she still felt a tiny bit dizzy.

But the subject of her research was an important one, something that was brought up earlier and had to be addressed as soon as possible. That thing being cooking. Not just any cooking, but cheap and easy cooking. Both reasons being self-explanatory. It was an adventure on its own, as various sites offered cheap or easy to make, but each time Weiss wasn't convinced. It either looked too fancy to be cheap or too expensive or not very appetizing. Not to mention difficult to make

She let out a defeated sigh as she lowered her hand with the phone in it. Maybe she should ask Blake for help. Maybe. But she wanted to give it a few tries and leave the cat girl as a last resort. It was the first step, she understood that. She had to take the first step which was the most difficult thing in all of this. Usually, the first step consists of a path in which you need to set your foot on. This? This was different. This was not just setting your foot down, it was choosing in which direction to do so. This is why cooking was so stupid and she didn't bother with it up till now.

She focused on the background sound of the radio that Ruby was playing silently. She kept telling the girl that it didn't bother her unless it was some weird music and that the girl could listen to it louder, but that always ended with the redhead shrugging and saying she hears it perfectly fine. Weiss once more questioned if it was her Faunus ears or her not wanting to be too much of a bother. Maybe both?

This did make her realize something and even before said thought could be properly formulated inside her brain, she tilted her head and glanced at the dog girl that was sitting on the floor beside the bed. "Ruby?"

The dog girl's ears perked up as she heard her name and she glanced at her owner. "Yes?"

"I never heard you play any radio stations that play music. It's always talking. Why?" Instead of formulating a hundred theories about it, she decided to just ask. Making things up was getting exhausting, at least for today. If only she could be this creative for something more practical.

"Oh that, I just…" The girl paused as she mulled over her own answer. "I like when people talk." She moved her eyes away from Weiss. "When I'm alone the worst thing is the silence, so I like to listen to a radio when there's a talk show or two people talking. Sadly whenever it's talking, they talk about some heavy subjects I don't fully understand but just hearing them talk is soothing in a way. I also like the radio because it's all sound so they have to talk. With videos, it often can be just shown and that doesn't really help."

"Music doesn't help with that?" The Schnee tilted her head.

"Not really, music becomes background noise while when people talk I can focus on their voices and words." Ruby shrugged. "I'm sorry if it's confusing, I don't know how else to explain it." She rubbed her neck.

"That… That actually does make some sense I suppose." Weiss scratched her cheek with her free hand. At least it was some sort of explanation, right?

"What about you? What were you doing on your phone?" Ruby rested her chin on the side of the bed.

"Checking out some cooking recipes." Weiss shrugged wanting to be as casual about it as possible.

Ruby gasped at that. "You're really considering learning how to cook?"

"Don't get your tail and hopes up too early, I'm merely considering it." She frowned at the girl, although even her cold expression didn't help, as Ruby's bright smile didn't seem phased by that.

"But you're considering it for my sake." The redhead retorted.

"Maybe I'm taking into account that it would be cheaper." She crossed her arms but it was too late. Ruby already decided and she wasn't wrong of course. It was hard to keep a frown when all she could see whenever she glanced at the dog girl was a bright smile and her tail happily waggling behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weiss's hangover was inspired by my own… Don't question it. At least a light hangover state.
> 
> Also, I decided to throw away my sleep tonight to finish this chapter, proofread it and all that crap. Most importantly I decided to do this over my SA practice in MHW so you better appreciate it damn it! (Just kidding!)
> 
> This chapter was supposed to be half of this and half of what will be in the next chapter, but since I managed to fill out my minimum quota I decided to just make this little "Sunday" chapter so we get some more Ruby and Weiss interaction.
> 
> I'll give a little hint about the next chapter, it'll introduce the whole "Faunus school" thing.


	23. The Law

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm awful and here's why. It's because there's no "Faunus school" in this chapter as well. Now before you scream at me and throw stuff at me, let me explain. The content of this chapter and the next that obviously isn't yet posted (Or it is if you're not reading this chapter as it was released or shortly after) were supposed to be one bigger chapter. But I decided against it since specific content in those chapters could potentially overshadow each other. Because of that, I decided to not drop two (potential) bombs and divide the chapter into two. On the plus side you got an update a bit faster (And just before volume 6 starts). But since I promised and I broke my promise, I wanted to apologize for that. I hope you understand.
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

„...And remember to behave and listen to Blake." Weiss, per usual, instructed Ruby as they were walking through the hallway of the apartment complex that Yang had her little home at. It was a bit embarrassing to admit that, but the Schnee had a very simple motivation in constantly making sure that the dog girl would be on her best behavior around Blake. It was practical, she didn't want for her to become an issue and thus having to think of something else to solve the problem of Ruby being alone all day at home.

"Yes, I understand. Weiss, you keep saying that as if I was wrecking their home each visit. It's not my first time there." That of course made the dog girl act grumpy towards her, but she could swallow it. She knew it had to be annoying but that was once more her own anxiousness kicking in. Yang and Blake were her friends and Ruby was right, she wasn't a force of unstoppable destruction or anyone who had malicious intent behind each and every action. But it made her feel better and she came to terms with the fact that she was a selfish individual.

"I'm just worried, I know you won't be a bother but at the same time, I'm worried about things. Could you just play along with my nagging?" She saw the girl roll her silver eyes but smile afterward.

"I guess I could, but in excha-" The girl stopped as both of them heard muffled yelling and while hearing that out of the blue would be enough to make anyone pause mid-sentence, what added to the shock value was that they both knew the voices that were currently shouting.

"Is that Yang and Blake?" Weiss asked out loud, not sure if she was just asking a rhetorical question or if she was asking herself or Ruby.

"I think so." The dog girl answered with a nod. While it was clear that both of them were raising their voices, Yang was the most audible of the two, although the usually quiet cat girl managed to exceed her norm as well.

The walls and doors muffled the voices enough to make it hard to make out about the topic of their… Argument? So Weiss decided to knock on the door to maybe distract the two in case they were indeed fighting. Although as her knuckles were about to hit the wooden doors, they suddenly flung open and in the doorway stood a very angry, if a bit surprised, girl. This startled Weiss and put her in a very uncomfortable position in which she wasn't really sure of what to do or say in a situation like this.

"I'll wait outside." Yang harshly announced without even closing the door, just grasping her bag over her shoulder tightly and moving down the hallways from which both Weiss and Ruby originally came. Speaking of, both of them just stood there frozen in spot. The redhead for the reason of never seeing the blond girl so angry before and Weiss because… Well, she most likely would never get used to seeing Yang furious.

The spell was broken as they heard someone else approach them. But instead of anger or flames, they saw weariness and exhaustion. That was perhaps the least enjoyable view that Weiss saw in a long time. In front of them stood Blake looking tired as ever. But the Schnee understood that this wasn't physical exhaustion, this was an emotional one. It didn't help that the cat girl kept a very stoic presence around her most of the time.

"Hey." The girl offered a weak smile. Initially, Weiss wanted to question the smile and the short greeting but then again what was she supposed to do? The human girl shook her head at that.

"There's still enough time if it's a bother I can take Ruby back home. Neither of us will get angry over it." The Schnee offered with a small smile of her own.

"No, no, it's fine. If anything I could use some company." Blake shook her head and stepped to the side, wanting to allow the other Faunus girl to enter.

"Don't you prefer to be alone? I'd think you would want to be that even more in a situation like this." Weiss rose her brow. Sure, she was practical and selfish, but to a point. She didn't want to force any sort of responsibility, however artificial, onto someone who just had a fight like that. Or was looking like that.

"I do. Look, Weiss, you'll be late. Also, you should make sure Yang won't destroy half the city in her current state. So don't worry about it, I'll keep Ruby company for today." The fake smile, however small, vanished from Blake's lips and behind her amber eyes was something that made her agree.

"Are you sure?" She asked, wanting to confirm that this indeed was alright with Blake.

"Positive, now go." The cat girl reached out and took Ruby's hand, gently pulling her inside as the redhead was in the same shoes as her owner, not sure if all of this was alright or not. Still, she complied once tugged inside.

Soon Weiss was greeted with the doors being gently shut in front of her and with one last sigh she looked down the hallway. She already knew how difficult the next hour or so would be.

oooOOooo

"Y-Yang! Wait up!" It was hard to keep up with the blonde girl, and while Yang claimed it was because of their different lifestyles, something she liked to point out to her as she claimed lack of any exercise on her side, Weiss had to wonder how much it was that and not just the fact that the blonde simply had longer legs. And that was on a good day, but when she was annoyed? Most of the time Weiss had to jog next to her to even keep up. "You said you would wait, Yang, please!"

This had to have some effect as the girl did slow down, which helped the Schnee girl to at least be able to walk beside her. "I did wait, not my fault you took so long up there."

At that she had to bite her tongue, snapping back at Yang would just make them argue and it was clear that if anything she had to be patient with her friend. So she remained silent, which just made an awkward atmosphere between them, but it was still better than having an argument with her.

This would be a long walk, even longer than usual. It wasn't her idea to be walking to their university like that, especially since Yang didn't exactly live close to it. Still closer than her own rented place, but it was quite a trip that required her to leave extra early. Yet they both agreed to do this long ago, although for different reasons obviously. Yang was just that sort of a person, she enjoyed to abuse her body or as she called it to keep it in shape. Why agree to that if it seemed like such a pain in the butt to walk so far almost every day? Well, public transportation required money. Not much, true, but with how frequent she'd have to use it still would take a bite from her wallet.

Not to make it sound too dramatic. She still took the bus from time to time. When the weather was awful or she was late or for whatever reason she was feeling under the weather yet she had to be present, be it an exam or other random reasons.

"If you had your own private airplane, how would you paint it?" Both the question and its content surprised Weiss and broke her train of thoughts as she blinked. Still a bit anxious about Yang's previous mood she decided to not question the randomness of it all.

"How big of an airplane am I allowed to have?" She glanced at the blonde as she asked.

"Mmm… Let's say as big as the airplane that the president uses." The girl beside her answered which made Weiss imagine the size of the vehicle in question.

"Blue? Like white at the top and the lower, it gets the darker shade of blue it becomes." She nodded to herself, that would be a pretty sight… If she ever had her own airplane.

"That's it? Isn't that a bit plain?" Yang smirked to which Weiss just rolled her eyes, although deep down she was happy to see the girl brighten up if even by a tiny bit. Or at least try to.

"Was that a pun? Because either way, it was horrible." She crossed her arms and kept her act of annoyance going.

"Eh, maybe? I'd paint it yellow, but going through the middle would be like this badass red dragon that would breathe fire and stuff!" The taller girl rose her fist in the air as if excited by the idea of doing so to her imaginary plane. The gesture made Weiss blush a bit as some of the passersby gave them a weird look. Still, it was good to see the girl in a better mood, to see that spark behind her purple eyes. Even if it was slightly dimmed by something, at least it once more shone behind her eyes.

oooOOOooo

It was obnoxious, while initially Weiss was a bit anxious about it all and worried, now she was annoyed. It took around three hours to get to this. Two lectures and one break in between, which technically made it longer. Now as she was heading back to Yang with her coffee in hand, she decided that she had to make at least some sort of move to squeeze any information out of Yang. It was her last occasion to do so today.

Once the blonde's anger faded it was replaced with… Something. Sadness? Guilt? Weiss wasn't sure, but the girl tried to act as if nothing happened meanwhile she gave off all those small clues that it was there, bugging her. Perhaps this was the burden of friendship, to know how your best friend behaved it was easy to notice how off her behavior was from the usual.

"Alright Xiao Long, spill the beans." She said in a firm tone of voice as she settled next to the girl on a bench.

"Huh? What?" Yang blinked as she looked at her.

"With you and Blake. What happened. We have fifteen minutes before the next lecture. That's enough time for you to tell me what happened." She took a sip of her coffee, while she wanted to deal with Yang's issue she still had in mind how awful this could taste when it wasn't heated to the point of burning her throat.

At that, the facade had broken, but instead of getting angry, Yang's face was covered with sadness. "Fine, I'll spare you the time with it being not so important and all that. It's about Faunus, you did read the news right?"

"The news? Not really. Not since Friday." Weiss didn't expect that sort of answer. Did they really have a fight over something like news? She took out her phone and went to the site she used for that sort of thing and glanced over it. It had to be Faunus related so her eyes filtered all the filler and focused on just that, Faunus related titles.

"The equality law was rejected in a voting. 354 voted against the law, 23 abstained and 273 voted for it." Weiss tilted her head as if the new angle was to help her to gather anything from it. This was the bold text but it didn't really tell her anything, and the article itself seemed to be a long one.

"Long story short." Yang began as if sensing what she had on mind. "There was a bill about treating Faunus as equal in the light of the law. It was made after that Becky incident, you heard about it, right?"

"I… Well..." Weiss rubbed her neck. She did remember that name and a lot of stuff on the news, but back then it was Faunus related and back then she had better things to do than read about things that weren't related to her. Trying to stabilize her own life for that matter.

"Right, Becky was a squirrel Faunus who got… Well, had some bad stuff done to her at the work, or rather he would if she didn't stop him. That was seen as a violent act towards a human and she was arrested and then sentenced. There was a big controversy around it and after that, they made another trial in which she was proven innocent and the guy was then accused of doing the bad stuff. It got deeper when third parties wanted to make all of this be brushed under the rug once more by wanting to pay Becky and her owner so that they could keep quiet and make the whole thing fade into silence. They refused and the guy got like one year or something." At that Yang paused and sighed. "If he did that towards any of us, you or me, he'd get more. So the Faunus rights organizations started to lobby for a law that would put Faunus in an equal light as humans in terms of law and all that. There was a voting this Saturday and well… You saw how it ended, right?"

This was definitely not something she expected. But that was the context of it all and while Weiss wanted to drill the issue of Yang and Blake having an argument, she couldn't help but be curious. "I didn't know the law is different for them. Why, though? And why not vote for something like that?"

Once more the blonde sighed, sounding more and more exhausted each time she did so. "Weiss I'm glad you took Ruby over and I'm sure you meet wonderful people so far that wanted to help you out. But that's a minority. Most people don't look at Faunus in the same way. Same goes for Ruby and Blake, they're a minority among Faunus. If Blake covered her ears and tail, you couldn't tell her from a human, right? If I wore a leash and fake ears you'd think I'm the pet in that house. Same goes for Ruby, maybe minus the role reversal. But if she covered her parts up you'd think she's like me on you. A bit eccentric sure but still a human."

"How… Does this have to do with laws? And them being different?" Weiss wasn't ready for this, but she had to go deeper down this weird rabbit hole, if not now, she wasn't sure when she would be able to talk about this sort of stuff with Yang or anyone. The darker side of… Of what? Faunus life?

"Because not every one of them is as smart as our girls. The main argument is that it would strain the system if they treated Faunus cases with the same importance as humans, which is… Well, I won't comment on it. I disagree, to put it lightly. I'm too tired to get angry over it again and again. Most of the time its assumed that the Faunus is at fault and they get sentenced and there's that. Most of the time they gave a fine to buy them out as well to not strain yet another system, jailing system. The pound system." Weiss glanced at her darkened reflection in her own coffee. That did explain Neptune and his behavior. Not that it justified it, but it… Made sense. It was also a soft landing for her since now she knew what to expect if Yang wasn't exaggerating, which she doubt she was. She shook her head.

"How does this tie into you and Blake? Like, what did you two fought about?" That was a good question, didn't they both agree on this topic?

"Eh… I had a hangover and I wanted some peace and quiet but Blake was all heated up by the news so we had a fight and… You know. We're too stubborn to just apologize." Yang shrugged. So she wasn't the only one that might have had a bit too much that Saturday. Then again she noticed that there was something else that bothered the blonde, but for the moment? For the moment she was satisfied since she understood. Although that happiness was dimmed by the information that Yang just dumped on her.

"Also the lecture started like ten minutes ago soo..." Yang said as she slowly rose up.

"Eh? EH?!" Weiss glanced at the phone she had on her lap only to confirm what Yang just said. She quickly rose up and chug her coffee, only to be reminded of how awful it tastes when cold. It took all her willpower to not spit it all out as she ran towards the room their lecture was supposed to happen.

oooOOOooo

It was impossible to concentrate and after ten minutes of trying she abandoned the idea. Her eyes still seemed focused on the lecturer but her mind was trailing down its own road. It wasn't hard to guess what road it was.

Weiss was still occupied by what Yang told her before. It's like only now did she understand each and every piece of that conversation. It did make her feel a bit bad that her entire focus was now on the Faunus situation and not Yang's issue with Blake, but from how it sounded they would most likely apologize to each other after the blonde gets home.

Was her view on the entire thing clouded by the fact of… Of what? How lucky she was that Ruby was as smart as she was? That the few people she met so far were kind and generous to her because the smaller the group and the bigger the danger the tighter you have to keep to one another? She wasn't stupid and she understood how all of those social mechanisms worked. She just wasn't aware she took part in them once Ruby became part of her life.

And while it might make her sound naive, it shocked her that people could do horrible things to them. And get away with it because the jurisdiction system is flawed. Would this happen to Ruby at some point? Did this sort of thing happen often? Or was it just a one in a million type of thing. Whatever it was, she knew that once she got home she would investigate it, at least this particular case. Not that she didn't believe Yang, but it was a very short version. She already knew what issues it would create, it would be two sides painting things to fit their narrative. People that sided with Faunus and people who were against it. In between folks didn't care, she knew that.

She was that person up till a certain point in time.

oooOOOooo

Weiss was gathering her notebook as she stood up, the lecture being over and she did have someplace to visit in the two-hour break they had before their next two lectures. Then work and once its pitch black outside she'll finally be home. For some reason today it seemed far more exhausting than any other day.

"Wanna grab a snack on our break?" Yang inquired as she waited for the shorter girl to get her things packed.

"I can't, I have to visit the schooling institute, I have an appointment with the principal." She smiled and shrugged.

"Mmm… It won't take you the whole break, right? I can go with you and after that, we still can have something to eat. Although nothing fancy. I guess you mean the one nearby, right?" Yang rose her eyebrow as they began to walk, pausing only to politely nod to the lecturer who seemed to be busy with some other students as he answered their questions.

"Yes, I thought I'd see if its a good place since its so close by it would be convenient." She reached for her phone to see if there was any message waiting for her as well as to check the clock. She should be on time, especially if Yang goes with her. That stupid fast pace of hers.

"Neat, it's the same place that Blake got her papers at, so it's not a bad place. If anything they have enough patience to stomach that cat." Yang smirked to which Weiss just rolled her eyes, trying to fight off a smile that threatened to cross her lips at her comment.

Hopefully, her luck was still in place and people there would be as helpful as any other Faunus related folks she met so far. Or was being aware of that broke the entire spell for her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Initially, Yang was to just mention the Faunus thing and at the end of the chapter Weiss was to research it in details on her own, but because of something else that will happen I decided to make Yang do a TL;DR version which I might later color up with details. The fault is on me, since when I was planning all this up, only once I wrote it down in the actual story and re-read did it seem like a bit of a bigger deal than I initially thought, and as such, I decided to cut the thing in two.
> 
> For anyone that enjoys bumblebee, I might write a bonus chapter after the next proper chapter. Although no more promises from me since I clearly have an issue with keeping my word. But it might happen, not sure how long it'll be but there's a high possibility it'll happen
> 
> Also for anyone interested, if you read or at least glanced at my "Entwined" story, I finally figured out how I would remake it. As in the form of how I'll do it. So if you liked it, you might like the polished version and if you thought it was meh, I would encourage you to give it a shot once its out. Since it's a whiterose as well. Although it might take a bit before I post it, at least now I know how I'll handle it.
> 
> So this part of A/N might be a long one and not really related to the story so feel free to ignore it.
> 
> It's been one year, around one year, since I started writing and it's not long before this story hits its one year birthday or whatever. I didn't feel like doing any sort of special thing or wait to post anything exactly that day (Or the day that this story gets its 1 year anniversary) because let's be honest, I'm just writing dum fanfictions on the internet. There's nothing to celebrate here.
> 
> But! What I'm happy about is that I managed to do this for one year straight and I'm still going. I think one year of doing anything is something worth at least mentioning since in this day and age it's hard to do something that requires any form of effort and stick to it. I'm happy about it. So yay me I guess.


	24. Rainy Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I very much enjoyed the first episode of the new volume. If anyone really cares about my opinion on it I wrote a crappy blog entry about it, so I won't cluster what I think about it here. What a random thing to say at the start of a chapter, I know right?

It didn't take them long to get to the schooling facility. Weiss still wasn't sure how to call it, there were a few official names and then there were unofficial names given by normal folks and it all mixed together inside her head. The place seemed empty, no sound, no nothing. All she could hear was her own footsteps as she moved through the corridor. It wasn't a very big building and judging from the inside it looked like a very small elementary school, at least one you see in the movies. She never was in a public school. Any school, really. Always homeschooling.

She shook her head at that, no point in letting this place get to her head, especially since so far it had a pleasant aura, maybe the emptiness was a bit ominous but it didn't seem like this place was… What's a good term… Cold? Soulless? Well, whatever it was, this place wasn't like that. It had this warmth to it. It wasn't hard to notice that the funding was… Sparse. But while working with what they got, it seemed nice. The walls were green from the floor up to somewhere around the middle, after that they turned white. The floor was your usual fake marble like textured stone or whatever it is. She was always curious enough to question it but not curious enough to research it. On the walls were various glass cases that were filled with various art projects. And they were things that even Weiss would consider nice, clearly made by someone who understood what they were doing or at least they were on the road to becoming a great artist. Drawings, paintings, and small clay figurines.

Outside of that? Plenty of colorful posters, mostly informational and made to aid in learning both the most basic of things as well as the more complicated… At least Weiss assumed some of them were harder than others. They all seemed very basic to her.

She moved towards the direction she was pointed towards at the reception, the area where she could find the principal, which was on the other end of the building. But this did allow her to see most of the building or at least get a general idea of how it was. She passed various rooms that were supposed to be classrooms and at some point, the rooms became more sparse with small nameplates attached to them. One of them caught her attention, as it was the one she looked for. Wilkinson. She gently knocked on the door, the silence of this place made her worried that any sort of sound would be too loud.

"Enter." A simple command spoken in a firm tone of voice could be heard from behind the door, with a deep breath Weiss opened it and entered. Behind a black wooden desk sat a round woman of what she assumed had to be her height. She had short, curly hair that was in the middle of transitioning between dark and gray. On her nose laid a pair of wide-rimmed glasses, and while her face was filled with wrinkles, her smile managed to go right through them, giving off a more pleasant sight than the initial first impression.

"Hello, I'm Weiss Schnee I was… I had an appointment." She offered her own smile, although hers was more politely fake… Or maybe the woman before her also had the same type of smile? Who knew.

"Ah yes, please sit down. I'll admit I expected someone older." The woman briefly reached for some sort of paper and checked something on it, in the meantime, Weiss was able to sit down in the chair that was positioned on the other side of the black desk.

"Why so?" It didn't offend her, she wasn't even sure if she should feel offended.

"Well, a young Faunus is quite the troublemaker, most younger folks think that it's too much of a hassle to raise one." The woman smiled as she answered the question.

"I don't think… I mean, I'm not sure what young means, but Ruby is at around my age. I mean, my Faunus, her name is Ruby." She reached up and rubbed the side of her neck. Was this an issue? Would Ruby be surrounded by kids as she tries to learn the most fundamental things?

"Oh my, does that mean that she's a survivor of some sort?" The woman's brow furrowed at that.

"Survivor? What… Exactly do you mean by that?" Weiss's jaw clenched as soon as she managed to ask.

"Slave Faunus, miss Schnee. Sex workers, labor slaves, organ extraction..."

"No! No… Nothing like that." Weiss yelled and almost stood up just to stop the woman from continuing her weird countdown, her hands now tightly grasping the armrests of her chair.

"I see, I apologize, I didn't mean to make this difficult. Sometimes being direct is better than beating around the bush. I'm glad that… Ruby, was it? That Ruby's past isn't tainted with anything that horrible. I do have to ask why wasn't she educated before, though." The woman once more smiled and Weiss was glad to change the topic. She had to shook her head to get any sort of even glimpses of images that the principal's words started to create inside her head.

"She was raised in the countryside, she wasn't previously registered. Her owner died, but before that, she moved to the city, I'm not sure why. I kept her after that, she's officially registered as my Faunus." At that point, she wasn't sure if she kept any details from the woman or was that the whole truth. Things kept on going so fast that she wasn't even able to revisit the events of the past month.

"I see, we do have an older group just for cases like that. I assume you wanted to sign her up?" Even as she was asking, the woman reached out towards one of the drawers in her desk to take out the registration form. "Here's all the information and documents you need to sign in. You have a week to either bring them back or send them back. The date of when you send them counts if you choose to use mail."

"I see, can I ask you some questions before I go?" Weiss glanced at the documents, but nothing really caught her attention too much, at least not at such a brief look over. She allowed for the papers to rest on the desk and her eyes moved away from them and up to look at the woman, the same smile still plastered on her lips to the point that it made her wonder if her face didn't hurt from all that smiling.

"Of course, go ahead. I'll try to answer to the best of my abilities." The principal nodded and folded her hands on the desk as she leaned a bit forward.

"How exactly does the process go." She grimaced at her own question, was it too vague? Too general? Still, the woman did answer.

"As we talked on the phone, the basic program takes five weeks. One week for writing, one for reading, one for math and one for basic social behavior, with one extra week to be able to catch up with problematic subjects. It all ends with a test and an oral exam." As the woman explained it almost seemed as if a robot spoke, like a formula that she could most likely recite woken up in the middle of the night.

"And… How does it really look like?" It was a gamble, but it didn't hurt to try.

"Of course, nothing is so black and white. In reality, the first two weeks are dedicated for both writing and reading as the two things go in pair. The rest is as I said, the math is on a basic level, its mostly just counting with some addition and subtraction thrown in there. What you have to understand is that its a cycling process. If a Faunus fails the exam they go through the same process again and again and again till they finally are able to pass the exam." The woman paused and fixed her glasses. "It's noted in her documents at which try she managed to pass."

Weiss took a deep breath at that bit of information. "What… Does that mean? For the Faunus that is."

"That might make it easier or harder for her to get a future education or even a job. A poor score in that regard might even close any future licenses." Weiss simply nodded. So there are no fixing mistakes. Quite the pressure.

"How does an average day looks like?" This was just out of curiosity, but why not ask while she was here, right?

"There's a morning exercise that takes the first hour. Then breakfast and proper classes start, there's lunch at around one and after that two more classes. Then we have a day room that works for three additional hours. Does Ruby have an adopted status?"

"Y-Yes, is that an issue?" While initially, this place provided her with a good feeling, now she felt… Weird being within those walls. Perhaps it was because of what she learned earlier this day, but hearing all of that information right now didn't ease her at all.

"No, quite the opposite. There's an annotation in the form about it that allows you to sign up for social help if you financially qualify. It'll be a bit of paperwork but it'll provide you with free meals and free use of the day room." She blinked, that was true or at least she remembered something about adopted Faunuses being able to get some social help here or there. Figures that a school or… Whatever this place was officially called would offer such.

"Miss Schnee?" Hearing her name broke her train of thoughts. She blinked and once more focused her gaze on the woman before her. "I know that what I said here might have sounded harsh, but please believe me that we're here to help and perhaps that's the weakness of this system, that people who actually care would rather work with Faunus than to try and change things at the higher level. It's better to learn how the system works in its cold calculating way. We're not machines and we want for all of our proteges to have a good life after they leave our facility."

"I understand, I won't lie that me adopting Ruby was… Accidental, really. Before that, I had no interest in anything Faunus related and only now am I learning how difficult all of this is. And stressful." At this point, she didn't really care. And to believe that this wasn't the end of her day. It was barely a start of it.

"Of course, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask now or at a later time. Would it be an issue if you brought Ruby here before the classes officially start? Maybe when you'll deliver the documents."

"I'll… See. I can't promise anything. I could try coming here this Friday. That's the only day I don't work and I don't have any lectures. I'll be going, I still have classes today and I shouldn't be late." Weiss offered with a tired smile.

"Very well. I'll see you this Friday then." Weiss stood up and took the papers off the desk, carefully managing her bag to not ruin them. With one last nod, she exited the room. Once outside she started to walk towards the exit, her mind giving her ideas of skipping the lectures or even calling in sick to her work. Thoughts she brushed aside, while tired she still had to be responsible. Who knew being an adult was so physically and mentally straining.

oooOOOooo

With all the Faunus business occupying her mind Weiss failed to notice something important. Something that became apparent to her as soon as she left the building. "It's raining." She commented out loud looking at the cloudy sky.

"Yep." Yang nodded as she stood on the edge of the roof that covered the stairs leading to the main entrance.

"And I didn't bring any umbrella with myself." The Schnee let out a sigh.

"We could just run through it?" Yang proposed as she glanced at the shorter girl.

"You know it'll end up poorly for me if we do." She crossed her arms as she sent a glare towards the blonde.

"Right, you're out of shape." The girl rolled her eyes.

"I'm not out of shape! Some people are naturally more vulnerable to certain things." She frowned, was Yang joking or was it one of her stupid attempts to make her eat healthily or jog or one of her many ridiculous ideas she had whenever such subject was brought up.

"Ehe, certain things. You mean everything? Weiss, I'm just worried about you, that's all." Weiss blinked as she felt an arm pulling her in closer into a half hug. That, of course, made it difficult to stay mad. Deep down she was a sucker for hugs… Whatever that said about her.

"So is Perkinton still in command?" After a moment Yang released her from her clutches and glanced at the rainy sky as she asked.

"In command?" She rose her eyebrow at that. "Oh, you mean if he's still the principal? No, it's Wilkinson now."

"Hah, that old hag? Good for her and this place. You know she put in a word for Blake when she got in some real trouble here. If not for her intervention that girl wouldn't even have the most basic education… On paper that is." Yang crossed her arms as she smirked to herself at the memories that flooded her mind.

"You could have gone with me? Or come with me this Friday, I'll have to be here again to bring back the documentation." Weiss shrugged, it did make her feel a bit better. If Yang respected someone that had to mean something.

"Erh I'd rather not. She's the hard type with a soft heart you know and I already strained her good side with Blake's shenanigans. Best to repay her with some peace and quiet." The blonde grinned sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"What… Exactly did Blake do?" Did she even want to know?

"Well, a lot of things. But you should ask her, I'm sure she'll be happy to refuse to tell you anything about her fun times around this or the other facilities she got her papers at." That meant she didn't want to know. Maybe ruining the image she had for the cat girl was a bad idea. Then again she could always get some information from the principal… Maybe, there's a lot of time to think this over till Friday.

After that topic was over the only sound was the rain tapping against the ground and nearby windows with some occasional car driving by. It wouldn't stop raining anytime soon. Without anything to talk about Weiss started to think about some topics they could converse about. "Hey, Yang? I think we should take a break from our little drinking meetups." She decided that it wouldn't be bad to revisit some of her Sunday thoughts.

"What?" There was something weird in how Yang responded, enough to make Weiss look up at the taller girl. What she saw was definitely not something she expected to see. Anger, the same she saw in the morning when the girl left her apartment.

"Yang?" Did something happen? Did she say something wrong?

"Blake told you to talk with me, didn't she?" The blonde clenched her fists as she turned fully to face her.

"What? Yang, what are you talking about?" Weiss was stepping on thin ice right now and she knew it.

"Look I don't have a drinking problem, alright? Blake is being overprotective again and once more she wants to have it her way." Yang squinted her eyes and glared at her, which sent a shiver down her spine.

"Blake didn't talk to me about anything, Yang please, this is absurd. I didn't even know she had any problem with your drinking." She knew it had the same effect as yelling at a bear to stop eating your kayak but what else was there to do that wouldn't worsen the situation.

"I at least expected you to approach me directly about stuff Weiss, not beat around the bush like that. You know what, whatever. Just… Whatever." The blonde shook her head and just started to walk away through the rain.

"Yang! Wait! It's really not like that!" She glanced at the sky that mercilessly assaulted the ground with water. She took a deep breath and as she gritted her teeth she started to run after the girl. She had to, there was no other way she could catch up with angry Yang and her angry strut.

After a moment she managed to catch up with her, reaching out to grab her hand to try and stop her. "Yang, come on, don't be like that." The only response the girl gave her was a sudden motion in which she abruptly and violently freed her hand from Weiss's grasp to the point that she had to fight to keep her balance. Once she made sure she wouldn't have a close meeting with the pavement she glanced at the girl that was already walking away from her.

This, of course, annoyed her. Yang could say what she wanted about her physical endurance. Sure, she was weaker and maybe she did get sick a bit too much, but damn it if she couldn't be persistent. What she lacked in endurance she sure as hell could make up with willpower. With that in mind she once more ran after the girl, but this time once she caught up with her she didn't just grab her hand, no. She clung to her arm with full force.

This seemed to both confuse and annoy the blonde. "Weiss, what are you doing?! Get off me!" She started to shake her arm to try and get rid of her, but the Schnee wouldn't let go no matter what. The girl could feel the rain starting to affect her body as she began to shiver, but at this point, she didn't care. She had enough of it for today.

"You'll have to force me to let you go, Yang." She announced coldly as she looked up at her, both of their glares meet and after a moment the contest was resolved as Yang let out a tired sigh.

"What do you want from me, Weiss?" She asked as she glanced to the side.

"I want to talk. Yang, why won't you believe me? Blake didn't talk to me about anything." She begged the other girl if anything she did not want to end this day with a fight over nonsense like this.

The blonde wanted to say something, to argue further but she stopped before anything left her mouth. Instead, she tugged the girl after her. "Eh?! Yang? Where are we going? Yang!" What was going on now?

"You're basically shaking. I might be angry right now but I won't let you freeze out here in the rain. I know a tea shop nearby, we can talk over something warm to drink." The blonde explained without even looking at her.

And with that, she would miss out on a smile that blossomed on Weiss's lips.

oooOOOooo

The place wasn't huge, but it was big enough to allow a few tables to be reasonably separated from one another so that people could enjoy their tea in peace. The waitresses at around their own age, most likely doing this part-time, offered them some towels to dry up, something that they eagerly accepted. Once seated it was dead silence between them, only once the tea arrived did Weiss decide to try and break it.

"So this is why you fought with Blake?" She asked quietly, not wanting for their conversation to be too loud.

"I didn't lie, it did start with that stupid news about that law." Yang brushed her hand through her hair as she glanced down at her tea. "I said I was tired and hangover got into the mix and the drinking and… It's not hard to imagine how it went after that. Once she brought up… Mom it all exploded." She leaned against the table and rested her face in her hands.

Weiss understood, if there was anyone that could understand how the past, especially past related to family, hurt, it was her. What a horrible thing to be a self-proclaimed expert on. She reached out and put her own hand on top of Yang's to let her know that she was there for her. Once the blonde raised her head to look at her she offered a smile. "You know she's worried about you."

Yang averted her gaze as her purple eyes moved to look at the street through the window near which they were seated. "I don't have a problem, just because she had, doesn't mean I will."

"Yang, both me and Blake independently noticed that you and I started to drink a little too much lately. You find reasons to celebrate and meet up and whenever we do that there's some form of liquor involved." She let out a soft sigh. "I'm not saying it's often enough to consider that you have a problem. I mean if that's the case then I have a problem as well. Just… Let's just slow down a bit. We can have fun without that. I actually thought about it this Sunday but not because I wanted to point out you're having a problem, just because we've been at it a bit too much as of late."

"Fine, I get it. I'm stupid as always." This was often the case that whenever the flame of anger depleted its fuel, the blonde girl would succumb to her morose state.

"You're not, you just wanted for us to gave a good time, and I appreciate it. Nothing bad in that." It was at that moment that Weiss felt her nose starting to tickle and not a few seconds after she sneezed.

"Bless you, you should head home Weiss and warm yourself up so you won't end up as the living dead tomorrow." Yang's concerned eyes focused on her and for once she was glad to see that side of the blonde. At least it wasn't sadness she saw.

"I can't, maybe skip lectures would be alright to get better but I have work later today." Weiss grimaced and took a sip of her tea. This was some grade A stuff. Ginger tea with honey, just the right amount of flavor and sweetness. She could feel herself smile just by feeling its taste.

"Call in sick or something, Weiss you know that you'll end up with a fever or something. Just call in sick, don't go today and ask if you could like… Work Friday or something, your boss always lets you get away with that stuff." As Yang spoke Weiss's mind already started to judge the idea. Her boss would agree and this was a special situation. She knew herself well enough by now that it was quite obvious what would come after this if she didn't try and stop it as soon as possible. A cold or worse.

"Ugh, I can't. I promised I would bring in the documents to the school and bring Ruby along this Friday." She groaned as she suddenly remembered, resting her head against her hand.

"Can't you call in and say you can't because of work? You won't be lying." Yang shrugged.

"Mmm… Maybe you could do it?" She snapped her fingers as that idea popped into her head.

"Eh? Do what?" Yang blinked in surprise.

"Take Ruby and bring the papers to the school." Weiss answered as she took a sip of her tea.

"What? No! I can't, especially not if that woman is in command there now." Yang seemed… Terrified at the idea, which just peaked her own curiosity.

"Why not?" She slightly tilted her head to the side.

"Because I can't, alright? It's that simple." The blond crossed her arms in a stubborn manner.

"Well..." Weiss began and took another sip of her tea. "… You have to."

"And why do I have to do it?" Yang's brow rose at the Schnee's comment.

"Because you owe me, it's because of you I'm potentially sick." She nodded.

"That's blackmail and you know it." The taller girl squinted as she glared at her, yet this time Weiss wouldn't care much for the glare.

"Well, then you can either do as I say, call the cops on me or refuse and make me very upset." In return to the other girl's glare, Weiss glanced up with her own cold stare.

"Ngh… I'll think about it, alright? No promises." Yang let out a tired sigh and shook her head. "We should grab something to eat and head back. I assume you'll take Ruby back home as you head there yourself, yeah?"

"That's the plan. I think I'll eat at home since I don't want to spend any extra if I don't have to." Weiss glanced at her tea as she said that, already wondering how much such a tasty drink will cost her.

"That's fine, it's my treat. Both the tea and the food, unless you want to dine in some expensive place." She offered a smile as she finished her own drink in one swing.

"Yang..." The white-haired girl frowned at the idea, she hated being dependent on others like that.

"What? It's because of me we got into this small mess, so I might as well offer something in return." Yang shrugged.

"You know that you won't buy yourself from that Friday trip, right?" She finished her own tea, perhaps the best moment to do so as it was growing a bit too cold, which ruined the perfection it offered just moments ago.

"Darn, well I did try. Now let's go, I think it stopped raining and you never know when it'll start pouring again." Yang grinned as she offered her hand to help her stand up, Weiss just smiled in return and accepted the help, already feeling a bit wobbly.

oooOOOooo

"Are you really alright?" Ruby asked, perhaps for the hundredth of time since they went back to Yang's place to pick the redhead up.

"Yes, Ruby why do you keep asking that?" Weiss let out a tired sigh as she waited for the water to boil. She was preparing… A medicine. What exactly was it she wasn't sure. It was one of those lemony drink that was supposed to fight off a cold if you drink it soon enough. It was one of those things that she picked up out of curiosity and it worked often enough to consider it part of her medicine cabinet. Not always but even sometimes is better than never… Especially with how often she was able to catch colds.

"Mmh… It's because you smell differently." The dog girl's response made her pause and glance at her.

"Excuse me?" Her eyebrow rose at that.

"I mean you smell the same but different. It's hard to explain." Ruby's ears went flat against her skull as she looked to the side.

"I'm fine and hopefully I'll stay that way till tomorrow." She smiled at the Faunus and reached out to pet her head.

"Alright, I won't ask anymore." The girl's silver eyes were turned towards the cup for a brief moment before she once more looked at her owner. "Do you think Blake and Yang will… Makeup?" She asked with a worried voice.

"They will, they argued because they care for one another, so once all those emotions settled down they most likely both understood how stupid their fight was." Her attention was turned towards the kettle that started to whistle, announcing that the water inside did reach its boiling point.

"I see." Ruby frowned thoughtfully, a state that lasted for a moment till her nose caught the smell of the medicine that Weiss was preparing. "What are you making? It smells nice." She smiled as she joined her owner at the counter and tried to peek into the cup. "Smells like lemonade."

Weiss picked up the cup carefully not to burn herself and started to gently blow at it. "It's something to fight off a cold in its earliest stages. And sadly it doesn't taste as good as it smells. It tastes more like socks if anything else." The human girl grimaced and Ruby glanced down at her own feet curious enough to wonder how exactly would her socks taste like.

"Did you talk to Blake? About her fight with Yang, I mean." She glanced at the girl. This was a trick question, as she was more curious if Blake talked with her about the law thing and all that.

"Hm? I did. I think she felt guilty over the reason they fought. Did you talk with Yang about it?" Ruby inclined curiously.

"Mmm… She basically felt the same. Sort of. Short story short she was eager to make up with Blake so that's what matters the most." She glanced at the liquid in the cup and took a deep breath. "Well, here goes. Cheers." She said in a mocking tone as she chugged the content of the cup. She tightly closed her eyes as she felt the hot liquid being poured as directly down her throat as she could manage without choking on it. She felt it burn her throat as it still could use a bit cooling off. Yet Weiss knew that the colder this gets the worse it tasted. Sadly even with all those precautions it still managed to torture her tongue with how awful it was. Once finished she felt her mouth produce extra saliva to wash off the awful taste, at least that's how she explained it to herself.

Ruby giggled at the grimace she made. "Don't laugh at other's misery." Once Weiss was sure that talking wouldn't make her feel the awful taste against her tongue, she playfully scolded the girl.

"I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you." Ruby nodded.

"Oh someone is being smarty pants." She said as she placed the cup back on the counter and reached to tug at the girl's ears.

"W-Well isn't being smart a good thing?" The girl winced slightly, but it didn't take her long before her tail waggled behind her, as Weiss's intent was more to rub the girl's ears than to tug at them.

"I guess it is." She nodded and pulled the girl into a hug, something that Ruby returned in an instant. "If we ever have a fight or an argument, always remember that I won't have any ill intent towards you, alright?" She said as she nuzzled her head against the girl's, enjoying how warm she felt against her.

"I will, I trust you." Ruby replied happily.

You shouldn't be, were the words that Weiss wanted to say but stopped herself. She had more mundane problems right now to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of those chapters where I'm a bit anxious. Mostly because of the implications of certain characters. For once I'll try to not explain/excuse myself too much and just say that certain things have to be twisted to keep certain characters as they were with a similar reasoning behind it. And yes this was also the reason I decided to split the chapter into two, so this one and the previous one. I kept it a bit vague as it turned out that writing about this particular subject seemed a bit more difficult for me than I thought. But it is what it is.
> 
> I'm not sure if people expected "this" out of a "Faunus school" chapter but this is what I had in mind. Some more details(?) about how it all works. In case I was a bit too vague/subtle about it, what they are discussing is the basic education. When we get to the different stuff I'll be sure to find a way to info dump you all in some neat (and boring) exposition.
> 
> Finally, no Ruby/Blake scene in this chapter. Why? Because I have a bonus chapter planned for Blake/Yang so I might as well squeeze the Ruby/Blake scene in there as it was relevant. I sort of scratched my head when I looked at my notes wondering why haven't I planned it that way in the first place. But once more, it is what it is.
> 
> Also if I sounded a bit anxious/depressed/worried/whatever in the last update, don't worry! I write those shortly before posting and I usually do that late at night and sometimes I get a bit uneasy at that time of the day… Night, whatever. Hope this (somehow) fast update will make up for that.
> 
> Finally a bit of bad news, I know when I'll "pause" working on this story to move my other stuff and it'll be around the time that Ruby will go to school. Sorry about that! But I want to abandon any of my stories and since I have so many ongoing series I want to offer them some love too.


	25. Faunus Nurse

Yang let out a sigh as she tapped her foot. She was about to glance at her wrist, as if expecting there to be a watch, stopping herself at the last moment and just reaching for her phone as a normal person would. At least a person without a watch. One glance at her phone gave her all the information she needed. She had to leave now or else she'd be late.

So far she got no message from Weiss which meant that something happened or... Or something happened. The question was how serious it was. Hopefully, it was something that still allowed the other girl to get to the campus so she could question her. If not? First thing on her break she'll call her.

"Blake? I'm leaving! If Weiss comes by tell her I left because she was taking her sweet time." She called out to the Catgirl, once she got a loud hum in response she decided to leave for her morning lecture.

One step out and into the corridor and she saw it. Shambling slowly in her direction. As she noticed that a million thoughts rushed through her mind, each a different scenarios of what could have happened as Weiss was barely walking with her arm around Ruby who seemed equally tired. Yang decided it had to be because of the fact she had to drag her this far, stairs being the worst. As soon as her and Ruby's eyes meet, the dog girl mouthed a soundless "Help."

oooOOOooo

"Moron!" Yang commented as she walked from side to side. On a couch in front of her was a miserable, shaking mess of a human being, Weiss. The white-haired girl had a blanket around her and by her side was a very worried Ruby, her ears flat against her skull as she wasn't sure what was worse at the moment. Her owner's health or the blonde being furious with Weiss.

"I don't know what you're talking about. The Schnee had to force her body to stop shaking for a brief moment, enough to be able to speak out her thoughts without the stupid thing affecting her voice.

"You're half dead! Your fever is so big that I could fry eggs on you. How can someone this smart be such an idiot at the same time to drag your corpse to my house." Weiss winced slightly. This was an angry Yang. An actually angry Yang. The worst part was that the anger was currently aimed her way. It was fine when the blonde was angry with something or someone else. But it was tough to endure when she was lashing like that on her.

"I don't know what you're talking about I..." Her own words were interrupted as she started to cough. The worst kind of a cough, the dry one. "...I Feel great." She ended her sentence, feeling more and more miserable by the minute. "Besides I can't skip anymore on… On anything really. I want to pass and I need to keep my grades for my scholarship. I also have a job if you forgot." She tried to sound angry but it all came out as a mumble, even to herself which just made her feel even more miserable.

"Won't mean much when you're in a hospital, Weiss!" As Yang's voice rose even more in volume, the Schnee felt even worse, as she curled up more. This was too much and at this point, she didn't care what would happen. All of this was true, both her own words and Yang's words and there was no good choice here, no good option.

"Yang..." Blake placed a hand on the blonde girl's shoulder.

"It's just..." She began but one glance at the cat Faunus made her stop mid-sentence and just let out a deep sigh.

"I know, but it won't help if you yell at her… Besides in some way it is our fault." Blake lowered her ears at that.

"My fault." Yang corrected her, and as Blake wanted to argue with that statement, Weiss's cough brought both of their attention to the sick girl. And as soon as Blake's eyes went to glance at the sick girl, it was hard to forget about the other one sitting next to her, as she was partially clinging to her owner.

"Ruby? Were you vaccinated?" Her sudden change of topic made everyone in the room focus on the catgirl, which while Weiss was partially glad, the question itself made her flinch a bit.

"Vaccinated?" Ruby repeated and blinked.

"Yes, did you visit a doctor when you were a bit younger? He injected you with something?" Blake's soft smile and kind eyes mask started to crumble as worry started to peek through the cracks.

"No? I don't remember ever being at a doctors place before. I think it was my first time when I was seeing a doctor when Weiss took me there after she found me." As soon as she finished, Blake jumped forward and pulled the girl by the hand, in a flash they both disappeared in the second room.

Weiss blinked, not sure if it was her fever or did she just register what happened correctly. "What happened?"

Yang just let out a soft sigh, taking Ruby's place and wrapping an arm around the other girl. "Luckily nothing, but I'm afraid there's something else you'll have to add to your list of things to do with Ruby."

"Great." She mumbled before letting out a soft cough. When it rain, it pours. Not soon after finishing her thought, Blake led Ruby out, the latter girl wearing a white protective mask over her face.

"We'll have to get Ruby vaccinated before her luck runs out," Blake announced to everyone in the room.

"Against what exactly? I'm still confused and you'll have to excuse me for being a tiny bit slow at the moment." The Schnee asked and didn't even try to cover her annoyance.

"Flu or colds or whatever you want to call them. I assume you're not aware that those are sort of a big deal for Faunus, right?" Yang started, trying to explain the situation.

"But nowadays it's not a big deal. We get vaccinated shortly after our birth and later at around our teenage years we get the second, stronger dose that should last for the rest of our lives." Blake offered a more throughout explanation.

"Why did no one tell me about this?" Weiss leaned to the side till she laid on the couch. "Just let me perish."

"Hey, no talking like that. I ain't having a corpse in my living room. And I guess nobody really thought about it till now." With a frown, Yang reached out and helped Weiss sit up once more.

"I'm glad that something came out of me being sick now and not later. Anyway, we should still make it to our second lecture if we hurry." As she tried to get up, midway through she was pushed back down by a hand placed on her shoulder.

"No, we're not going to the campus today," Yang announced firmly.

"I'm not in the mood for games, Yang." Weiss hugged herself as she felt a shiver ran up her spine, reminding her that she was released from the warm hug of the blanket from before as the cold air inside the room surrounded her fevered body.

"Weiss I'm not playing around, it's about your health. We're going to take you to see a doctor." The blonde nodded, crossing her arms.

"What for? He'll tell me to take some pills I won't be able to afford or something along those lines." At this point, she would agree to just stay today home. Or not even home just lay on this couch and not care about anything. But the doctor visit meant another meaningless task to do.

At this point, she could agree to just stay home for today. Or even not home, just lay here on this couch without a care for the world. But a doctor visit sounded like a meaningless task that wouldn't accomplish much outside of making her have to go places and not getting anything out of it.

"We'll cover for you." Blake's voice reminded her that she was still in the room and Weiss had to squint her eyes to focus on what she meant by her words.

"I don't do charity." Once her brain caught up, she replied dryly.

"It's not charity, we're just worried. Besides, from what I understood it's our fault that you got sick in the first place." The catgirl's ears went down at that.

"My fault." Yang corrected the Faunus once more. "But Blake's right. If it wasn't for our dumb argument we would just live this day like any other, but instead, here you are, looking like you're about to pass out." She let out a tired sigh of her own. "Now stop being stubborn, the sooner we get you checked, the sooner you'll be able to relax."

"I'll still have to go to work, you know." She mumbled and curled up. Why was she even trying right now? She had a headache and it was pure determination and will power that pushed her towards the more responsible things to do. Especially considering her physical strength left her the moment she left her bed.

"You forgot your phone, Weiss?" Yang's suddenly asked.

She understood Yang's question of course, but her brain in its current state could not attach any meaning behind it. Logical circuits looped the question a few times before giving a blue screen. As such her brain initiated an emergency plan. "No, I have it here." She slowly took out her phone, showing it to the blonde.

"Perfect, Blake keep her still." Before Weiss could even react, her phone was snatched away from her and Blake was… Hugging her, as she kept her in place.

"Don't worry Ruby, it's for her own good." The catgirl explained to her. She didn't really do much to keep the Schnee girl in place as she was already exhausted from whatever virus she had and the meek struggle she offered to try and free herself was barely noticeable. The dog girl just stood there, wearing the mask that was supposed to keep her safe from whatever sickness Weiss could accidentally spread. If anything Ruby was just confused by what was going on.

"Yang! What are you doing?!" Once the realization hit her, it was too late, as the blonde managed to find the right number.

"Hello? Is this Weiss's Boss man person?"

"..."

"Yes, Weiss Schnee."

"..."

The white-haired girl could only watch in horror as her best friend just made her lose a job. She leaned into the cat girl, no longer wanting to do anything but to perish. Ruby would be in good hands, surely Blake wouldn't let Yang just put her in the pound.

"I'm her friend, wanted to inform you that she's not well, to the point that she can't even call you to inform you about her not being able to get to the job today. I'm actually about to take her to see a doctor."

"..."

"No, no! Just some awful flu or something. But she can barely stand."

"..."

"Sick leave? Really? That's great!"

"..."

"Of course! I'll make sure the doctor fills out anything important so its official and all that. If it's alright I'll send a message once we know some more so its at least clear how long she'll have to stay home."

"..."

"Yeah! As soon as we know anything. Gotta hang up since we should get going." With one last tap at the screen, the blonde turned around with a wide grin. "See? All settled!"

Weiss wished she could shoot daggers out of her eyes, as she squinted and sent her a glare. Or laser beams. Anything to eradicate Yang. "I hate you."

"Love you too, now we better get going. Blake, I'll leave Ruby to you if you don't mind." With no more arguments being tossed from anyone in the room, both human girls slowly got ready and left.

oooOOOooo

Three hours later they were back and most of it was waiting in line to see the doctor as getting an appointment meant they would need to wait till the next day. The rest of the trip was being occupied by the slow pace they had to adapt due to Weiss not feeling too well and finally finding a pharmacy to get the things prescribed by the doctor. After all that was done, they could go back to the apartment. And they had to since there still was one thing left to settle.

"So what about me?" Ruby asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

Weiss let out a sigh and shrugged. "I guess you'll stay here for the time being. Probably tomorrow I'll feel better so first thing in the morning I'll call the same doctor that did a check up on you and ask about details."

"They'll probably want to do it as soon as possible, so most likely be prepared for a question of when can you get Ruby to see him." Yang chimed in.

"And when… When will we be able to?" Ruby asked as she shifted her body weight from one leg to the other, only to change to go back and loop the entire process. It was clear to Weiss that the girl was feeling restless, such state came shortly after it became clear that she had to keep her distance. Oddly enough this made Weiss feel happy. This meant that Ruby wanted to be close to her. On the other hand seeing Ruby like this was a very sad, if not a bit frustrating sight since she knew what would fix it, yet she couldn't offer it to her. It was for her own good after all.

"The doctor said that if I rest enough I'll be good as new before Friday. Besides my sick leave extends till Friday, so I have to be feeling better by then." She offered a weak smile at the redhead. The dog girl just looked back at her with worried eyes, the mask hiding any expression she currently had.

Something clicked inside the dog girl's head and she frowned "But… But if I stay here you'll be all alone."

"That's not the first time I'll be sick and alone at my place, Ruby. Don't worry about it." She had to stop herself from chuckling as she feared it could bring back the cough from before.

"But I'll feel terrible if I knew you were all alone when you're feeling miserable." But I'll feel terrible knowing you're all alone when you're feeling bad." Ruby crossed her arms and shifted her stance into a more defiant looking one. This surprised Weiss as she didn't remember the girl acting this way. Or did she? Weiss wasn't sure at the moment. Then again thinking was hard right now, so it felt like she was excused by that fact alone.

"Don't worry Rubes." Yang wrapped an arm around the girl, the surprise of her motion made the redhead lose some of her previous demeanor. "Both me and Blake can visit her and see if everything is alright. Besides its just two days, well three if you count today."

"No!" Ruby managed to push Yang away. The shock from the gesture was most likely a definitive factor that the dog girl even managed to push the blonde away. "I don't care if I get sick. I-I don't want to leave Weiss alone when she's sick like this. I... I..." The redhead couldn't finish what she was trying to say and it felt like anger was the only thing keeping her from letting her tears pouring out.

Blake let out a sigh and raised a hand. "I'll stay with Weiss while you're unable to, Ruby."

"What?!" Both humans in the room shouted… Well, one shouted and the other would if she had the strength to do so.

"R-Really?!" Whatever tears were trying to leave the girl's eyes were immediately dismissed and pushed back as happiness filled the dog girl's eyes. It took her a second before she jumped to hug the other Faunus. Blake just let out a short giggle at that, hugging the shorter girl back.

"Yes, really." She answered as she patted Ruby's head.

"Now wait a second, where did that come from?" Yang frowned and crossed her arms as she focused her gaze on Blake.

"Have you ever seen Ruby like this? We could ask Weiss if she did. Although I'll take a gamble and say no." She smiled down at the dog girl, meeting her silver eyes and catching a glimpse of the shorter girl's tail wagging happily behind her. "So instead of arguing or making someone unhappy, I'll move in for those two days and nurse Weiss to full health."

"Hey now! Don't I have anything to say about that?" The blonde continued to uphold her frown as she eyed the catgirl.

"You do, but you'd have to go through her first." At that Blake turned the dog girl around, understanding that she had to yet convince Yang made her look up at her with her big silver eyes.

"Please?" Ruby pleaded and as much as Yang wanted, she couldn't bring herself to say no to that. Harsh or diplomatic, no form of rejection could be pushed past her lips.

Finally giving up she just let out a deep sigh. "That's cheating." She mumbled.

"I guess it's settled." Blake leaned down and nuzzled her cheek against the shorter Faunus, the redhead returning the gesture. While still wearing the mask, it was easy to tell that she had a big smile on her lips.

As for Weiss? She just observed the entire thing in silence. Her exhaustion reached a point in which she couldn't even drift off to sleep and the fever added to that, making this entire scenario seem so… Surreal. Were both her and Yang switching Faunus with one another?

oooOOOooo

Contamination aside, all of them, minus Weiss, agreed that the sick girl had to sleep for a bit before trying to transport her anywhere. Only once the girl woke up and stumbled out of Yang and Blake's bedroom did she notice that preparation was being made. Preparation as if Blake was moving to her full time.

"Yang I'll be fine, I'm sure Weiss has some spare bed sheets." Speaking of Blake, she could hear light hints of annoyance in her voice.

"It never hurts to be prepared, right?" Yang, on the other hand, seemed like a parent sending their child out for the first time to a sleepover or something similar. A school trip that would last more than a day? Perhaps a more fitting comparison.

"H-Hey, I'm up." Weiss announced as she entered the room, gaining the attention of everyone inside of it. Ruby jumped up from her seat and it was clear that she wanted to rush towards her, stopping before it was all set into motion at the last moment. The realization of the current situation limiting her ability to pounce Weiss made the girl very unhappy. And Weiss just stood there, observing the entire process as she tried to not smile too much.

"That's good, that means we can call a cab and leave before Yang starts asking me if I took enough underwear." Blake shook her head as she moved to grab her owner's phone.

"Did you?" Said owner squinted as she glanced at the catgirl.

"Yang!" This time it wasn't just a hint of annoyance. Blake's voice sounding closer to being outright angry.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Don't shoot! Sheesh." Yang rolled her lilac eyes and approached Weiss. "So how are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a truck." The Schnee answered groggily, but as she saw Ruby's worried eyes she forced a weak smile. "I'll be fine Ruby, don't worry. The first day of sickness is always like that." Ruby just nodded at that, although it didn't really seem to take away her worries.

"At least you survived the hit and won't end up as some zombie idol or what not." Yang waved her hand dismissively.

"Excuse me?" Weiss just raised a brow at that. Was she having a fever again?"

"The cab will be in a few minutes so we can slowly go down and wait for it there." Blake approached them as soon as she was done with the call.

"When did I agree to use a cab?" The white-haired girl crossed her arms.

"When you promised to not make everyone on the bus sick. Besides, it'll be quicker and less tiring for you." Blake said over her shoulder as she was already grabbing her bag.

"Hey! I'll get that down for you." Yang said but as soon as she reached out for the bag, Blake moved it away from her reach.

"No, you'll stay here with Ruby. Do you really want to leave the poor girl alone after her owner leaves?" Once her name was brought up, everyone's eyes focused on the dog girl, who was just silently accepting the Greek tragedy of a fate in which she would never be happy, forever alone, away from her owner. Forever for two days, which was forever in dog ways of measuring time.

"I'm sorry Ruby, I'll call alright? Or you can call and if I'm not asleep we can talk. It's just two days, it'll go by in no time." Weiss said but deep down she already wished she was back in bed. Although maybe she shouldn't feel completely bad? She was being sick… And she wouldn't mind having Ruby next to her. That was the ideal plan. Maybe next time she's sick? Once Ruby gets immune to whatever it is Faunus get after getting a human cold… Was she looking forward to getting sick again?!

"Weiss? You coming?" Blake's word got her out of her weird little chain of thoughts.

"Y-Yes, I apologize." She slowly moved toward the door.

"Get well soon, Weiss." While Yang had her eyes on the Schnee, she still took a few glances down at Ruby

"I'll be fine, so please focus on getting better." Ruby finally offered her own farewell and while it was against the rules they all agreed upon, Weiss reached out and patted the girl on the head.

"You two play nice, alright? And Ruby don't worry, just two days." She offered one last smile to the girl before leaving.

Two days without Ruby? Weiss wasn't sure how she felt about that. Was this horrible feeling in her chest because of her sickness or was it because she would be separated from the girl for two days… Two days, it sounded like nothing, yet right now? Right now it felt like an eternity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I know I made a one-sided phone call, but this time it wasn't Weiss so sue me, it was on purpose. Besides I'm sure it's pretty clear what the call is about!
> 
> I removed the part where Weiss and Yang actually went to the doctor, as in me doing the "Show don't tell" instead of summarizing what happened. The reason was that well… It was about nothing and I struggled to fill it out. It felt like a Naruto filler episode (I'm kidding I'm kidding!)
> 
> So yeah, a Faunus swap. How many folks thought that would happen huh? Also the scene about Ruby not wanting to make Weiss all alone… It took me a bit to make it work (at least in my mind). As it was somewhat difficult to not make Ruby sound dumb or thoughtless or whiny. I just hope it felt natural. While I enjoy writing dialogues, however terrible I am at them, I often worry that I make them feel unnatural.
> 
> Lastly, the sick leave and all that? I used the way it is around where I live, so if it's confusing I apologize. If you have any questions that could fill in the void of your knowledge about this weird world I made that would not spoil anything, I'll be glad to answer.
> 
> Now that the story stuff is settled, a little bit of behind the scenes stuff. The reason this update was so late and I haven't really posted anything aside from that one cupid story, was because I had sleeping issues. Again. If you're following some of my stories you might have stumbled upon me mentioning it here and there. Maybe even in this story in earlier chapters? I was fighting with it for a bit, and nobody really could tell what it was. Some doctor said it was diet issues so I changed my diet, it didn't help. Some gave me pills but I felt like a zombie after them. Like I slept but I didn't really sleep. More like a time skip really.
> 
> This time I got mad and I went to a private doctor, so I had to pay out of my own pocket since we have technically "free health care". After a short talk, he told me that I should try melatonin since that might be an issue. So I did, apparently, I can buy it freely in any pharmacy. And you know what? It helped wonders. Sadly it worked so well that it made me sleep through nights and that was when I usually wrote. So I had to adjust. While I still have to control my time, I can at least sleep without waking up in the middle of the night and I feel rested.
> 
> I hope I'll get back on track with my stories. This particular will have a few more chapters before it goes on a hiatus. And the bonus chapter I'll post after I'm done with it and I'll probably squeeze in scenes from in between a few chapters. And there's a white rose one-shot I really want to write so there's that.
> 
> Anyway, this got super long and I apologize! Also the conclusion to that mini story arc of team RWBY being stuck on that farm sucked ass.


	26. Companionship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick note before this chapter. I went back to the previous chapter and was horrified at the quality of what I put out. While I know it won't fix much, I rewrote some of it. Nothing was changed story-wise, I just wanted to try and fix the way I wrote certain things. While I can't force anyone or even ask for it without feeling bad, I'd appreciate if anyone could offer me some thoughts on it. This is all, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

"Just let me lay down here." Weiss said, now being pulled by the Faunus as they entered the small alleyway where her apartment was located. While the nap earlier today helped a tiny bit, this entire day was exhausting enough that even if she was feeling better, she'd still feel dead tired. Now add her current cold to the mix, and she just wanted to lay down on the ground and let it all end.

"Weiss don't joke like that, we're almost there. Just a few more steps and you'll be home. Come on." Blake, which was supporting her all this time, tried to nudge her on both verbally and physically, as the human girl had an arm around her neck. Blake was also slowly showing fatigue from this entire trip. Not only did the taxi have to park further away from their place, but Weiss was also slowly running out of steam and then there was the bag that the catgirl brought with herself.

Weiss didn't have any response to that, she just wanted to get home and lay down on her bed. Or even floor. At this point, even the floor sounded like a great idea. Luckily for her Blake wasn't lying and the doors to her apartment were but a few steps away. After a moment of trying to stabilize Weiss enough so she wouldn't fall, The Catgirl was able to open the door, allowing both of them to enter.

The human girl couldn't wait any longer, as she pushed herself towards her own bed and collapsed onto it. With her last strength, she tilted her head to the side as to not suffocate and she allowed for herself to finally relax.

"Weiss! Come on, not like that. At least change. Weiss? Weiss!" As she drifted into slumber, she could hear Blake's voice echo in the background. Yet she couldn't complain to the demands of the other girl, as her body reached its limit, and with the bed underneath her, she allowed for sleep to embrace her.

oooOOOooo

Touch was the first sense that came back. She felt the soft sensation of her bed underneath her. Then she felt warmth, comfy and cozy warmth that spread across her entire body. The hearing was the second thing that came back. She heard humming. Someone was humming softly. This made her brain pause as she tried to recognize the tune, sadly she wasn't able to deduce what was being hummed. Second to last came smell in its muffled form. She could smell a familiar smell. The smell of food. That sent a signal down to her stomach which grumbled in response, announcing the need for food. Oddly enough she didn't feel hungry. Or rather her body did but she just lacked appetite. All this thinking helped her brain to fully activate, which in the end made her eyes open. She blinked a few times. It was dark outside, as the entire interior was illuminated by artificial lighting. How long did she sleep?

She slowly moved, looking around. She was in her bed. But not like she last remembered, she was actually laying in her bed in a proper way if that made sense. And she was… Not naked, but in her underwear.

"You're up." Blake's voice echoed from the little kitchen area as she glanced over her shoulder. That's right, Blake was here and she was… Taking care of her. Which was decided against her will, kinda? Blackmail sounded more accurate.

"That I am." Came a raspy response and she immediately regretted that, as she felt her throat tighten. Right, she was sick.

Blake had to notice her wince at the painful sensation. "Something wrong?" She asked and began to approach her as she held a very big bowl. That made Weiss forget about her throat, if only for a second, as she wondered why did she need such a big bowl. Was this her meal? She knew that compared to Yang she ate slightly less, right?

"J-Just my throat." She finally answered, trying to clear it and just making it worse. It was a stupid reflex, she was aware of it, yet each time she got sick she had to force her body to stop doing that. You'd think that after a while her body would just learn and remember it. If not her body than at least her.

"There are some pills we got you that the doctor wanted you to take. I'm sure there's something for your throat in there, but first? You should eat." She said and leaned in to place the bowl on her lap. Weiss had enough time to sit up to take it, although she felt her muscles ache from earlier, she still forced herself to maintain her sitting position. She knew she had to eat, even if she didn't feel like it.

Although as soon as she glanced into the bowl, she was a bit surprised to see a second, smaller bowl and even then the content of said bowl was perhaps not even filling half of it. As her brow rose at such a revelation, she moved her head to glance at the other girl. Blake just shrugged in response.

"This was the best I could offer without forcing you out of your bed and preventing it from spilling everywhere." The catgirl let out a soft chuckle.

Weiss nodded, glancing at the content of the smaller bowl "And what is it?"

The Faunus rubbed her neck. "Chicken soup. I know, it's a bit silly, but folks tend to say that there's nothing better when you're sick than to have it. It won't hurt you even if it won't help you, outside of it being food." She offered another shrug.

The Schnee just nodded and took the spoon that came with the bowl, trying to get a bit of the soup onto it. "Mmm… I don't think I can remember the last time I had a homemade soup." Leaning forward she blew a bit on the content of the spoon before it entered her mouth.

Blake tilted her head. "You… I mean, you do go out to eat with Yang. Never had a soup?"

She smiled as the taste filled her mouth. She could actually feel the flavor and not just saltiness. "Restaurant? Sure, maybe from time to time. Homemade? Not really." She offered her answer as the warm liquid went down her throat, easing a bit some of the tightness she felt in her throat.

The other girl nodded at that. "I see. We often have it at the end of the month when we want to be sure to not spend the rest of our money on food. You never know what might happen."

A bitter smile bloomed on Weiss's face. "You might find a homeless Faunus and have to keep it." She let out a soft sigh.

Blake raised a brow at that. "Have to? That sounds like you were forced to do that."

The Schnee just shook her head. "I sort of was, but you know that's unfair. I don't necessarily regret that decision and I most definitely won't let go of her."

The Catgirl sensed that the mood was slowly turning sour and she opted to try and change the topic or at least lead it towards a soft landing of sorts. "Too bad she can't be here to feed you the soup, right?" She offered with a smile.

Although once the image of Ruby trying to feed her entered her mind, she couldn't help but let out a soft giggle. "You know, it's a bit of an exaggeration, but I like to think that if she did try to feed me, she'd make a big mess out of it. Not that I think she's clumsy or anything, but I think the thought and some sort of fake responsibility would make her both excited and make her want to do her best, which in the end would make those two things collide and, well, just make a mess." She continued to smile, as different variants of the same scenario played inside her head.

Blake giggled at that. "Do you think so?"

Her smile would slowly fade away. "A tiny bit. She… I think she's still afraid to open up completely. I'm not sure. There are times where she forgets and shows some of what's inside, but she locks up after a moment." Weiss placed the spoon down.

The Faunus girl reached out and placed a hand on the human girl's shoulder. "She went through a lot and she still tries to live normally."

Weiss just shook her head. "I know, I'm not blaming her and she can take as much time as she needs. I just hope she won't need some sort of nudge or anything. I'm not good with those things." Her gaze lowered at that.

Blake reached with her hands towards the human girl's chin and raised her gaze to meet hers. "I'm sure you'll do fine once a moment like that comes. If it comes at all." She offered a reassuring smile.

Weiss smiled back at her. "Hopefully."

At that Blake pointed at the bowl and stood up. "You should eat before it gets… At this point completely cold. You can leave the bowl anywhere, once I'm back from my walk I'll do the dishes."

The Schnee just rolled her eyes. "Blake, I'm not paralyzed, I can go put the dishes where they belong."

The catgirl collected her coat and just sent the sick girl a stern look. "Weiss, stop being stubborn. At least for today just do what's told to you for your own good. Today you're supposed to warm up and get some more sleep. Tomorrow we'll see, either way, we'll have to change the bed sheets and you'll have to wash so at least there's that. But for today just stay in bed, unless you have to… You know, bathroom and such."

With a tired sigh, she just nodded, feeling like a scolded child. "Fine… Where are you going?" She glanced at the Faunus.

Blake just shrugged. "For a walk. You know, here and there. Nowhere specific. Now try to get some sleep." She said before leaving, the last thing Weiss heard was the doors being locked. The Schnee let out a sigh as she placed the bowl as instructed, anywhere. Anywhere being in this instance besides her bed and at the ground. She laid back down and it didn't take long before sleep embraced her once more.

oooOOOooo

Her eyes opened once more only to be greeted by darkness. It had to be night by now, right? She should have checked the clock before laying back down. She did feel better, but that was given. Sadly better didn't mean good. She turned her head to the side only to notice Blake laying on a mattress, sleeping in a curled position. This made her smile as for once she could notice how cute the catgirl could look if she wasn't being… Well, herself. She smirked at that as she wondered how annoying it would make Blake if she heard her comment.

Sadly this just reminded her of how alone she was right now. She let out a soft sigh, glancing at her bed. It felt so big without Ruby clinging to her as she did each and every night. She got used to it pretty quickly. Not just sleeping like that but having the girl around all the time, at least when she was home. Even if she was just taking a nap, listening to her radio shows or doing something that didn't involve her, the sole presence of Ruby made things… Different. Better? That was a dangerous claim she wasn't sure if she could make. Not that she didn't want to, but her cynical side was still there, denying her the fact that things are better this way. Different? Sure. Better? Not so much.

She had to distract herself. Her phone came to mind as the first source of distraction, but what if she accidentally saw something that would bring her back to square one which was thinking about Ruby. She needed something simple yet manual to keep her mind occupied. Then it occurred to her. Coffee. She could make coffee. Although one glance around the dark room made her readjust that idea. Tea. Something warm to drink.

With that decided she slowly uncovered herself, feeling the chill creep up her body as all that warmth she managed to gather while laying under her covers started to escape her. She tried to be as quiet as possible, the curse of having your living place be one bigger room, knowing she'll still wake up the other girl. She walked towards the bathroom, wanting to get her robe on before continuing her journey into the kitchen area. There, barely moments after setting the kettle onto the oven, she heard Blake's voice.

It came out quietly and sleepy sounding. "Weiss? You should..."

Which was interrupted by the Schnee. "I know, go back to bed." She rolled her eyes. "I'm not dying, Blake. Besides its already tomorrow so I don't have to be obedient anymore." She reached towards one of the cupboards. One where she held all the drinks. All being tea and coffee.

After hearing some rustling it took but a glance to confirm what the sound was. The catgirl getting up from her mattress and joining her in the kitchen. "With that mindset, you should become a lawyer."

Lawyer. At least those are well paid. She shook her head at that. "I'd rather not sell my soul and stab my conscience just yet, thank you very much."

Blake offered a fake wince at that. "Ouch, harsh. Those poor lawyers."

The other girl's reaction and the topic at hand made Weiss smile a little. "I'm sure they'll be fine."

Blake leaned over the counter, her amber eyes creepily shining in the dark as she glanced at her. "So why are you up?"

Weiss paused at that, mulling over in her mind how much could she tell without getting into some weird discussions. With a shrug, she decided that what bothered her wasn't that much of a secret that she couldn't share. "I was considering making myself a coffee, after reevaluating that idea I settled for some tea. Also, I had to distract myself so making tea is the best thing I could think of at the moment." With that said she reached out for a cup.

Seeing the gesture Blake moved away from the counter and sat at one of the chairs near the kitchen table. Or the only table in the room, really. "Well, feel free to make me a cup so you don't have to drink alone."

She nodded, reaching first for an additional cup, and then towards the cupboard where she had all her tea types. All two of them. "Black or green?"

Blake decided on the spot, not even giving herself a second to consider her options. "Black, no sugar. It ruins the flavor."

Weiss winced at the idea. The idea of bitter, sugarless tea. "Makes it drinkable."

Blake just shrugged and tilted her head curiously. "I'd think you would enjoy the flavor considering you drink so much coffee."

"Apparently I don't." At that point, the kettle would start to inform her in all its whistling glory that the water inside of it started to boil. Not wanting to make too much noise, cursing herself in the process for still not checking the time, Weiss quickly settled the kettle off the oven, only to pour its hot content into both cups. Adding sugar to one of them once it was filled with water. After the tea making process was over she placed both cups on the table and sat down with a heavy sigh. Only now remembering how weak she was from her stupid illness.

A moment of silence settled between the two, as each glanced into their drinks. Weiss stirred her own for a brief moment to make the sugar dissolve quicker, while Blake just silently looked at the dim reflection of herself. At some point, she rose her head up and looked at the Schnee. "So… What's on your mind?"

What was on her mind, that was a good question indeed. Although at this point an easier question would be what wasn't. She let out another tired sigh, all those thoughts she wanted to run away from now came back, all at once crushing her mood. "Blake, just… Be honest with me. Do you think that I'm a bad..." A bad what… Owner? Could she even call herself that? Even if, wouldn't that make Blake mad.

As Weiss had her internal struggle, Blake just chuckled, understanding what the sudden pause was about. "Companion." She offered with a smile.

Weiss just blinked, not sure if she heard correctly or if she did, what it had to do with anything. "Huh?"

The catgirl just shook her head, still keeping her amused smile. "If you don't want to refer to it as an owner, just say companion. And why are you asking me that all of a sudden?" At that question her smile slowly melted, Blake's face now filled more with worry than amusement.

Weiss rumbled her fingers against the ceramic cup she held between her hands. There was so much to say, so many placed to start pouring out all the worries infesting her mind. Finally, in the usual fashion, she decided to just start from the beginning. "Because after today I… I wonder how many of those things will come up in the future. Things I wasn't aware and could endanger Ruby's life. And how long will we be able to roll on this sort of luck? I hate relying on luck, but more often than not it's all we really have."

Blake reached out, placing a hand on top of the other girl's hand. "Weiss, you're fine. Do you think me and Yang didn't have issues? We had. We had plenty of issues. With ourselves, with the law, with learning about all sorts of thing."

Weiss looked up from her cup. "You did?"

"Of course. Yang isn't some sort of Faunus expert and my knowledge is… Limited as well. At least you two… Adapted quicker to each others company. Me and Yang? We had a bit of a dance at first before we finally settled with the idea of spending our lives together as..." There was a short pause as Blake was thinking for a proper way to describe her and Yang's situation. "...As a family."

The Schnee just offered a slow nod at that. "I see..."

Blake smiled softly at that. "It just means you care, which is a good thing, Weiss. Focus on that, on the good part of you worrying." She offered a smile.

Maybe it just took someone to tell her this. Maybe it was this simple since she already felt better. Good enough to even say something to slightly shift the mood. "How can worrying even have a good side, isn't that some sort of oxymoron or something?"

Blake just rolled her eyes at that, not without a smile though. "You know what I mean."

Weiss just giggled at that. "Maybe." She paused as another question popped into her head. "Hey, Blake?"

There was a pause as the Catgirl was taking her first sip of the tea. "Yes?"

In a rare instance of social bravery, she decided to assume that Blake knew she didn't mean anything bad with anything she wanted to say. "Do you hate it when people refer to humans that live with Faunus as owners?"

Blake reached up to scratch her cheek as she gave the question some thought. "No, not really. Sometimes it's true. Sometimes they are the owners."

Weiss blinked in surprise. "Eh? I thought you'd hate it."

With a sigh Blake rose her cup, hiding her lips behind it as she allowed for the aroma of the tea to enter her nose. "Did they tell you about grades?"

It took a moment for Weiss to catch up with the question. A question that for her seemed like a strange shift in topic. "Grades? They did mention something about an important grade that would either open up or close possibilities for Ruby." She nodded after finishing her answer, more to herself really, as she wasn't sure if she remembered that correctly.

Blake nodded at that herself. "It's a grading system where they deduce the social adaptability of a Faunus." She explained it with a dry tone of voice.

Weiss gently chewed on the inside of her cheek, starting to think she just entered a very dangerous topic territory to discuss with the Faunus. "Alright. What does this have to do with my question?"

Blake settler her cup down. "In a way? A lot. I guess your question and your previous worries about not understanding things." Blake stood up only to lean her back against the counter, glancing down at Weiss from her new position. "It goes from E to A. E being the worst and A being the best. You don't see E grade Faunus nowadays. Not officially and not out in the open. If you ever meet any, it'll be in some shady place, mostly illegal fights and that sort of things. It's because they're not far from being equal to animals in behavior." Blake once more offered this new bit of information in a very neutral voice.

Perhaps it was the mask of her voice that Weiss didn't fully comprehend what was just said. Not fully at least. But once that last bit clicked her eyes went wide as she gasped. "That's horrible, wouldn't there be a place for them to stay? I mean animals aren't all savage beasts that want to murder everything."

The catgirl lowered her eyes at that, her voice growing morose. "There's one issue, a Faunus exclusive disease that… Let's say downgrades someone. It was discovered a decade ago as it was used by a terrorist group. They claimed to be fighting for Faunus rights, but in the end, they made it worse. Nowadays E grade Faunus get killed in fear that it might be some form of that. Although I think it's just an excuse." She gave a half shrug at that.

Weiss glanced at her tea, finally deciding to take a sip of her own as she analyzed everything that was just said. "It's weird when you refer to them like that." It almost felt like Blake was being sardonic in a way.

As if reading her mind, Blake offered a dry, emotionless laugh. "Grading them? Us? I guess even I adapted this language we now use. We lost the language war and now we're just forced to use it. I like to grade humans when I get annoyed at them. Wondering if they would like it if they'd have to be put down just because I decide they got an E rank for being an asshat."

Weiss's throat tightened at hearing that and it wasn't because of her illness. There was something… Dangerous in Blake's voice. And it didn't sound like something passive aggressive. No, there was some odd energy behind her words. "R-Right. What about other grades? And you still haven't explained to me how this has to do with you accepting the term owner." She decided to try and change the topic, or at least flip it to the other side.

Blake glanced at the ceiling as if the answer to that question was written somewhere among the cracked lines and weird brown stains that this place had to earn way before Weiss was even alive, let alone started living here. "You're an owner in my eyes if you own a D or C graded Faunus. They are… Simple minded, often if not for their owners they would end up in trouble. Pound or worse. As long as they are held in line they can live a happy life. It's not that they aren't useful or able to do things. You can teach them to do manual work or make them memorize things. It's just that they don't emotionally mature to be able to function on their own."

While she knew it was a very dangerous thing to ask, she had to. Otherwise, it would just sit there inside her head driving her mad. "So is it even possible for Faunus and Humans to have the same rights?"

Blake moved towards the table and reached for her own drink, taking a hearty sip and glancing at the container her tea was in. A simple red cup. "It's a complicated issue. Just like there are different types of Faunus in terms of our physical traits, you have us different in terms of this whole grading system. Our adaptability to live among humans and so on."

The Schnee nodded at that. "I think I see why no one wants to touch that topic." It would make a lot of issues and most likely a lot of chaos by making another group within a society that already has problems maintaining two groups. Now add a third one? Something that could be considered an in between? That wasn't an easy matter to even discuss, let alone try and make it work.

Blake clenched her jaw at that, glancing down into her cup. "It's a mess, I agree. But it doesn't mean that it's a mess that humans should ignore. Some of us are capable of existing on the same level as humans. To at least be subject to the same laws as humans." She frowned as she glanced at Weiss.

Partially out of curiosity and partially because she wanted to change the topic from this potentially political talk, she decided to ask a simple question. "So what's your grade?"

Blake laughed at that, not the dry, sardonic laugh from before. No, a more genuine one. "I won't tell you. Not personally. You can ask the principal of the same place Ruby will attend. I'm sure she'll be happy to inform you about my grading. Just tell her that her favorite cat sent you, she'll understand." She smirked at that.

Weiss just nodded, not sure what that could mean. "R-Right."

Blake finished her tea and stretched. "Anyway I think we should go back to bed. Especially you." She said, placing the cup in the sink.

Weiss let out a sigh, she did indeed force this late night tea onto Blake by waking her up. "Of course I apologize for keeping you up this late."

The catgirl just waved her hand dismissively. "That's fine, I'm used to staying up at weird hours." At that, she started walking towards her sleeping spot.

Weiss glanced up at her. "And Blake?"

She paused, looking over her shoulder. "Yes?"

"Thank you. This conversation… It helped me feel a bit better." The Schnee smiled, something that Blake returned before continuing her journey towards her bed.

Weiss went back to glaring into her own cup. This just solidified her decision. This world was based around a certain set of rules. Going against the current, a current this big and strong was dangerous. And if anything? She would never selfishly put Ruby in any kind of danger. She'd rather stand shield to keep her safe from those dangers.

She couldn't help but smile at the irony. After all, she would shield Ruby with herself from herself, wouldn't she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead, neither is this story. But I have no excuse. I was just lazy. For some reason whenever I sat down to write I just couldn't. I had tons of ideas for both this and other stories. I had ideas for two whiterose dragon stories. I had ideas for ladybug stories, oneshots or a longer ongoing thing. Hell, I even had an idea for a (depressing) bumblebee story. My brain was plenty creative. Too bad I just couldn't really write. I won't say I forced myself to write this. Since I try not to do that to anything I would like to consider fun. But I sure tried to kickstart myself into getting back into writing. It worked, at least I released something, right? Can't say much about the quality of it though.
> 
> Anyway, I wanted to release this before the volume 6 finale hit, since if things work out and the "setting" will allow for such, I'll prolly write a few oneshots about "what happens after" … You know, the usual. I did a few of those for the last volume. One of them being Weiss/Ilia pairing. I'm weird I'm sorry.
> 
> About the story? Like I said in the first A/N I felt disgusted with myself after re-reading the last chapter. I wanted to do that and maybe get in the mood, but I got horrified instead. You see, I never considered myself a good writer. I'm horrible at this. If I was drawing comics it would be one of those "The art is horrible but at least the story is somewhat interesting." And the interesting part would be "at best" scenario. But I like to think that I improve, slowly but I move forward. Even if step by step. But after re-reading the previous chapter I was shocked that it felt like I was going back. I was afraid to even re-read chapters even further back in fear that I'd see the same, now that would demotivate me further. While my first thought was to delete the last chapter and re-write it, I decided against it and to just work on it and replace it once it's done. It would end up messy if I started deleting and uploading stuff anyway.
> 
> Damn it I'm making this long again, sorry. One last thing, the grading idea came from studying something for one of my class and I decided that it would be easier for people, both in the story world as well as readers, to have a simple classification, a generalization of things, hence why I introduced it. As well as further push the notion that everything is simplified and brushed under the rug. I mean clearly, no one could fully grasp the full spectrum of different types of behavior and personalities under 5 letters A-B-C-D-E. Still, I thought it would be more "clear" for the story and you can yell at me in reviews/comments how bad and stupid the idea is.
> 
> Sorry for making this long (again). See you next chapter! (Or story)


End file.
